Sabine Marcelis, Kwangho Lee and Max Lamb create birdhouses for Home Sweet Home exhibition

More than 80 designers have rethought birdhouses for an exhibition at MAD Brussels in Belgium, with designs ranging from a miniature padded castle to a wooden house designed not to hurt the tree.

Called Home Sweet Home, the exhibition opened in the Belgian capital this week during the city's Collectible design fair.

Eighty-three contributors from both Belgium and abroad are taking part, including Marcelis, Lee and Lamb, as well as Philippe Malouin, Wang & Söderström and Bethan Laura Wood.

The exhibition, which was curated by stylist and journalist Connie Hüsser, aims to make visitors think more about the idea of home and what the concept means.

"A small object like a bird's nest can evoke an entire world," MAD Brussels artistic director Dieter Van Den Storm said.

"It is both fragile and strong at the same time, just like the idea of home itself."

Sabine Marcelis made a birdhouse out of resin

Many of the works on show perfectly encapsulate the visual language of their creators, resembling miniature versions of their signature designs.

For example, Lee's Hairy Birdhouse showcases the South Korean designer's work with ropes and string, while Wood's steeply gabled house has a colourful pattern that fans of the designer's work will recognise.

French designer Jenna Kaës made a birdhouse out of padded fabric that resembles a dark fairytale castle, while London-based Jochen Holz's design was constructed from fragile-looking blown glass with an organic shape.

To Hüsser, this mix of styles was an important part of the exhibition, and she ended up choosing the participating designers – many of whom are personal friends – based on the work they were already doing and how it would translate into a birdhouse.

Hüsser reached out to people on Instagram and only had one person turn her down, though she wouldn't reveal that designer's identity.

"Everybody was super happy and wanted to show what they think of as a birdhouse," she explained at the exhibition opening in Brussels. "Only one person turned us down – he said: 'I hate birds!'"

The wide range of designers taking part has yielded birdhouses made from unusual materials, such as Marcelis' beautiful but impractical resin-bowl birdhouse that can't be hung from a tree, and Brussels-based Shishi San's stylish tufted design.

Home Sweet Home, which has been expanded from a previous iteration of the show at VitraHaus, also features a mix of established and emerging designers.

"I have a good mix because I like to include young designers," Hüsser said.

"I support the young designers more because that is actually my main business, to put young designers together with big companies."

The joy of the exhibition lies in discovering what designers think of as a birdhouse and seeing how they explored the concept.

While there are literal interpretations, such as an actual bird's nest made from brass and copper by designer Juri Roemmel, other pieces evoke birds more generally.

These include a sculpture by Lamb, which had to be flown in from Japan and resembles a perch for birds rather than a birdhouse, drawing on his work with 3D tiles for Tajimi Custom Tiles.

Malouin, meanwhile, designed a birdhouse together with Finnish brand Vaarni that doesn't require the use of nails to be attached but can instead be tied around the tree trunk.

"He didn't want to hurt the tree," Hüsser explained.

The photography is by Sam Gilbert.

Home Sweet Home takes place from 11 March to 25 May 2026 at MAD Brussels. See Dezeen Events Guide for an up-to-date list of architecture and design events taking place around the world.

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