2023-05-08 04:45:00
An RTL report broadcast last April revealed more regarding the luxurious characteristics of the furniture in question. We thus learn that the new building will be equipped with a coffee machine worth 2,400 euros, the office of the President of Parliament with a sofa worth 18,000 euros and that parliamentarians will benefit from chairs to 4,750 euros each during their debates in committee.
For André Frédéric, new president of the Walloon parliament, these expenses are justified by the need to have ceremonial furniture to welcome prestigious visitors. “My office is a work office and also an office where we will regularly receive external authorities”, he explains. And to clarify:it is furniture for collective and professional equipment. It’s not furniture that I would buy for my house.
But the argument does not convince. “You can have furniture that does the job perfectly for much less. A buffalo blown leather lounge, for example, can be found for 3,000/4,000 euros. Without necessarily going through IKEA, it is possible to find very good quality for less than 18,000 euros.”believes Patrick Geenis, professional furniture seller and buyer.
Manu Disabato, former member of the Bureau of the Walloon Parliament: “I never heard of the purchase of a sofa at 15,000 for the House of Parliamentarians”
By opting for a sofa from the Florence Knoll brand, it is therefore the choice of luxury that has been made. “The Florence Knoll brand is a reference. It is synonymous with excellence, attractive design and quality materials,” he says. “What makes the value of a piece of furniture is partly the name of the artist who is behind it. If an artist has a certain quotation on the market, his furniture will be worth much more. The precise model and the period during which the piece of furniture was put on the market are all criteria that can cause prices to vary considerably. The same artist can thus be associated with different prices depending on the period in which he made his furniture. If the furniture was marketed at a time when it was not yet highly rated, it will be much cheaper than if it is equivalent furniture marketed at a time when the artist is more prominent.
The proof in pictures
If we wanted to refurnish the parliamentarians’ bedroom with an IKEA (let’s be crazy!), we will achieve this without difficulty. An IKEA floor lamp with arch, light gray at 100 euros might thus replace the Flos floor lamp at 2,423.00. Admittedly, it does not have a marble foot and is not signed by an artist quoted on the art market, but we bet that it illuminates just as well. Ditto for the Florence Knoll sofa at 18,000 euros. We found a similarly styled leather sofa on the IKEA website for 949 euros. Same thing for the coffee machine, which might have been much cheaper. We found one for 449.99 euros in the De’Longhi brand. As for office chairs, you can find similar ones at IKEA for €199.
For the spokesman of the PTB Germain Mugemangango, the office of parliamentarians will have to be accountable. “There has obviously been a conscious desire to opt for luxury products. When André Frédéric explains that it was important to invest in ceremonial furniture for the president’s office, it’s understandable. But in this case, we see that even the desks and chairs intended for the committee premises, which are only asked to be functional, have cost crazy sums. It is obvious that we might have had furniture of the same quality for much less“, he believes.
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