moreno maggi baukunst - a10.eu · moreno maggi belgium is actually ... also be true for the...

38 A10 # 48 A10 # 48 39Eurovision: BelgiumEurovision: Belgium

Guest edited by a leading

national organi zation in one of the

European countries.

Within a range of eight pre-selected themes each

country strives to

give deeper insight into the current

state of ar chi tectural

affairs:

UrbanGreen

Connecting Social

OffbeatGlobalFuture

The dark side of...

Belgium

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Belgium is actually a euphemism for three Belgiums. There is the Flemish-speaking Flanders and the French-speaking Wallonia, and there is also a small German community. In Flanders and Brussels is a large amount of new building, while in Wallonia much more emphasis is placed on cultural heritage, not to mention the political history and social reality of Belgium as a whole. Does all

this affect the nation’s architectural production? Of course, but not necessarily when it comes to quality. Christoph Grafe (VAi) and Audrey Contesse (A+) praise the sensuality of Belgian architecture and its strong relationship with the arts. Moreover, with respect to the selection of archi-tects and opportunities for young architects, the country is a distinct leader in Europe.

Is Belgium a real country with real cities? This Eurovision on Belgium is the result of a collaboration between A+, the Belgian review of architecture, Belgium’s leading architectural magazine, based in Brussels, and the Flemish Architecture Institute (VAi) in Antwerp. Together we hope to offer an introduction to one of the most unpredictable, yet very dynamic, architectural cultures of contemporary Europe. Presented are projects from Belgium and its cities – Brussels, Antwerp, Ghent, Mons – with their long-established urban cultures, and from the varied land-scapes, ranging from the highly urbanized fields of Flanders to the sparsely populated hills of the south.

One way to make sense of each of the many Belgiums is by taking some distance. The architectural office Baukunst, based in Brussels, manipulates aerial views of Belgian cities in order to investigate their identity. By substitution, subtraction, or compilation of relevant elements of the morphology of the cities, Baukunst cre-ates a new ‘urban portrait’. Standing in front of this huge triptych – each image is 315 x 238 cm – you at first recog-nize the cities. More or less. But something seems wrong with them. You can’t find the particular building that triggers your general recognition of the city, or the con-text that usually surrounds this building. This forces you,

the onlooker, to really look at the picture and more closely analyse it. You then realize that the ‘museum-city’ of Bruges is augmented by famous monuments from all over Europe, that the disparaged functionalist part of the city of Liège from the 1960s is removed, and that Brussels is stripped of all its high buildings. It is a sophisticated critical point of view on both urbanism and, at the same time, pictorial representation.

This work suggests that the country is a blank canvas onto which images, ideas and preoccupations can be projected. A country that is, perhaps, fictitious. Could it be a country without qualities? Yet also one that could be described as over-determined: a palimpsest of cultural maps, languages, urban identities, religious and ideological loyalties. Two major language groups – one Latin, the other Germanic – find themselves bound to a complicated cohabitation that is the result of historic compromise. State reforms devolving almost all political powers to the three regions – Brussels, Flanders and Wallonia – have dramatically changed the physical and mental landscape and transformed the architectural cultures of what has become an almost uncountable number of Belgiums.

Info www.a-plus.be, www.vai.be

Architectures from BelgiumCHRISTOPH GRAFE AND AUDREY CONTESSE

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The triptych ‘3 cities’ (2009) gives new skylines to Bruges, Liège and Brussels.


Belgium

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2 Christoph Grafe

(1964) was ap-pointed director

of the Flemish Architecture

Institute in 2011. A graduate of

TUDelft (where he also teaches)

and the Histories and Theories

Programme at the Architectural

Association School, London,

he is a regular contributor to

various European architectural

journals.

Audrey Contesse is an art historian

and architect. Currently editor-

in-chief of A+, she has worked

in several Swiss, American and Belgian archi-

tecture offices. She curated 5/5,

a film/lecture series on land-

scape architec-ture in Belgium (2009), and was

co-researcher of Usus/Usures

for the Belgian Pavilion at

the 2010 Venice Biennale.

Indira van ‘t Klooster: Just to start off with a simple ques-tion, how do you work within the highly complex political situation of this country? Christoph Grafe: Let us start with the observation than nei-ther of us is originally from this country. In itself this is worth noting. Less than a decade ago the idea that the director of the Flemish Architecture Institute (VAi) might not be from these shores, I guess, would have been unthinkable. The same may also be true for the position of the chief editor of A+. The fact that today two of the main institutions in the architectural scene are represented by foreigners may be taken as a sign of a signifi-cantly increased self-confidence. It suggests that there is a gen-eral understanding that the consolidation of the architectural scene in this country has reached a point where relative out-siders can be invited to play these roles and work productively.Audrey Contesse: It is the first time that foreigners are leading these institutions, and quite an adventurous step. In balance it seems to me that the outcome may be good, given that we may sometimes be less intimately implicated and, perhaps, more even-handed. In any case, it reflects the international perspective that characterizes contemporary architectural cultures in Belgium.IvtK: How do you interpret this confidence against the broader developments within the architectural cultures of Belgium?CG: I can speak only for the Flemish architectural scene here. The origins of the Flemish Architecture Institute are entirely connected to the emergence of architectural policy and the creation of a series of institutions – the Government Architect and his team, the Antwerp city architect and a series of institu-tions with strong local ties – that advocate the pivotal role of architecture in contemporary society. The process of devolution of political power (referred to as ‘federalization’ in Belgium) has provided the basis for institutionalizing the support of qual-ity in building, for fostering public debates and for encouraging emerging architects, critics and urban designers. In Flanders this support is definitely a cultural statement: it is part of a much broader programme to strengthen good governance, to improve the quality of the building production and the built environment. AC: The movement goes in the same direction in the French part of the country but with less money and less means. Since five years ago, the Brussels-Wallonia Federation is putting culture and qual-ity in the centre of the architectural public production through the creation of the Cellule d’Architecture. And since two years ago, there is also a Government architect of the Brussels Regio. CG: As I see the current state of things, a generalized assess-ment of the architectural scenes in Belgium is no longer help-ful. Architects in Flanders or Brussels are just as likely to col-laborate with their peers in London, Bordeaux or Amsterdam, as with those in Charleroi or Liège. There are currently prob-

ably more Flemings teaching in the universities at Delft or Eindhoven, or indeed, in Paris and Lille, than there are in the Francophone schools in Belgium. I guess the same may be true for some of the French-speaking architects. The broad orienta-tion of architects in both parts of the country is a fact, but the directions of their activities are not necessarily the same. AC: When you are listening to architects, it seems clearly easier to build aboard than on the other side of the linguistic boundary. There are also significant differences in the structure of the in-stitutions. The Cellule d’Architecture and the Government archi-tect of the Brussels Regio are embedded in the administration. As a consequence, they can be effective, but also have much less freedom than the Flemish institutions. But it’s still that, for the three of them, it is a daily fight to influence in controlling the architectural quality of buildings in the public sector. CG: The Flemish Architecture Institute is funded by the min-ister of culture, but the controlling agency is an independent board of trustees. Like all cultural institutions in Flanders, po-litical influence operates at arm’s length. Which means that our task includes the support of the architectural policy of the minister, but the administration is well aware that this is best done from a professional expertise. In fact, we have very good conversations with the administration and the ministerial de-partment – occasionally also with the minister – about the role of architecture in civil society and about the relationship be-tween social developments and the necessary responses from the architectural community.

The Flemish took the state reforms of the last quarter of the 20th century as a unique opportunity. Effectively, and I guess for the first time in recent history, there is now something like a sense of citizenship, with individuals demanding a much greater degree of transparency and clarity of procedures. All this happened extremely quickly, and the process is by no means completed.AC: One very important instrument in the development of ar-chitecture is the system of Open Calls organized by the Flemish Government Architect’s team. This system works with regular announcements inviting architects to express their interest in particular commissions in the public or semi-public sector. Un-like tender procedures in other European countries, these se-lection procedures are based on criteria pertaining to architec-tural quality as well as professional ability. The Government architect presides over the selection procedures where both clients and architects meet. The main objective of the Cellule d’Architecture and the Government architect of the Brussels Regio is also to define transparent commissions and proce-dures. Certainly because it represents the best way to influ-ence the architectural quality and to teach it to all levels of de-cision, from local to federal.

Architecture in Belgium: An idiosyncratic architecture based on common groundIt is almost impossible to produce a comprehensible summary of Belgium’s political arrangements. A conversation about the country reminds one of playing chess on six tables simultaneously. Every topic has so many political, cultural, social and historic aspects that the foreign viewer wonders how the country keeps functioning at all. Yet, Belgian architecture has been become remarkably successful over the past decade, particularly in Dutch-speaking Flanders. For Christoph Grafe, director of the Flemish Architecture Institute (VAi) and Audrey Contesse, chief editor of A+, the Belgian review of architecture, the positive aspects of the development have been paramount. Despite the linguistic and political divisions, the architectural scenes in Belgium, as both Contesse and Grafe note, are characterized by collaborations that connect architecture to other creative disciplines and the arts.

BELGIUM — TEXT: INDIRA VAN ‘T KLOOSTER, PHOTOGRAPHY: SAD


1 MARIE-JOSÉ VAN HEE AND ROBBRECHT EN DAEM ARCHITECTENwww.mjvanhee.be, www.robbrechtendaem.com

A STATEMENT OF AMBITIOUS PATRONAGEThe project for the stadshal is the result of a long process of mending the sequence of squares and buildings in the historic centre of Ghent. The grandiose Beaux-Arts-inspired re-planning of the city in the early 20th century had left an undefined gap between two of the major medieval monuments in the highly protected area, the 13th-century Saint Nicholas Church and the Belfry from the 12th century. In an inventive deployment of ele-ments of picturesque town planning, the architects proposed a complete overhaul of the area, with a sunken public park and an open hall, or rather, a large loggia, above. The hall, two enormous saddle roofs with slightly twisted geometries, resonates with the surrounding medieval guild halls and the town hall and creates a series of intimate smaller squares, providing new perspectives of the existing monuments. Supported by four sturdy concrete piers, the steel roof structure is clad with a quilt of wooden tiles and some 600 small openings that allow daylight to illuminate the space underneath.The decision to commission an adamantly contemporary build-ing in the sacrosanct heritage compound of a proud and well-preserved European city is a daring act of patronage, not just in Flanders, but also in the wider European context. Marie-José van Hee and Robbrecht en Daem demonstrate that a new build-ing can present itself both as a careful and poetic addition to a historical context, and as a building that is firmly of our time. Against the background of the almost ubiquitous tendency to reconstruct a fictionalized past, their project is a rare sign of cultural self-confidence and sensitivity. (CHRISTOPH GRAFE)

Project Town hall, Ghent

5 ADNwww.a-dn.be

ENVELOPING THE EXISTINGThe architects of adn were commissioned to increase the surface area of a 1930s working-class house located in the Brussels suburb of Kraainem, and to ensure it could be put to flexible use. It was either to be a large house, one with additional office space, or one with a studio that could be let. Nevertheless, adn wanted the project to ultimately form a whole, and the extension thus partly envel-ops the existing house, instead of rubbing up against it. This overall unity has not erased the traces of time, however.On the facade, the original mortared bricks, painted white, have been given a fresh interpretation: the extruded joint on the extension was spread before the brick and mortar were painted white. Inside the building, details such as a corbel beam and the old wall of the northern facade have been preserved. The latter’s rough texture contrasts with the smooth surface of the new partitions, which are positioned at an oblique angle to the existing building. This direction was determined by the peripheral outline of the extension, which makes the most of the house’s western orientation and which, on the eastern side, had to respect the alignment of the facades.

Project KRA1 house, Kraainem

2 NU ARCHITECTUURATELIERwww.nu-web.be

TELLING THE STORY OF AN INDUSTRIAL PASTThe C-mine expedition project began some years ago with a competition to design a tourist attraction in the former ventilation tunnels of the Winterslag mine in the Flemish town of Genk that would draw up to 100,000 visitors a year. The response drafted by NU architectuuratelier proposes a trail to be followed rather than the mere occupation of the two ventilation tunnels. To ensure an uninterrupted itiner-ary, the two tunnels connect and extend to the corridor that used to link the hut to the former entry to the shaft. Additionally, a new tunnel with the section of a pen-tagram joins this entrance directly to the two branches. A journey of the senses is thus created by linking the square, the ventilation circuit and the head frames.With this project, the architects wished to highlight the archetypal value of the site by putting it back in its natural context. Although emptied of its history and dedi-cated to a new purpose, the site’s essence has been recaptured, and the project arouses feelings shared by the miners and visitors alike. A simple and lasting way to tell a story. (AUDREY CONTESSE)

Project C-mine expedition, Genk

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um3 FERRIÈRE ARCHITECTES AND AGWA

www.ferriere.be, www.agwa.be

BRICOLAGE IN THE GARAGEThis housing project in a Brussels neighbourhood can best be described as an attempt to enhance and ennoble the existing with a sense of gritty realism. The site was a tyre-fitting garage built in the late 1950s. Ferrière Architectes and AgwA sought ways of making the best use of the building’s intrinsic qualities. The sports hall is on the ground floor and the homework centre on the first. The two new apartments were placed above the existing caretaker’s lodge, adding two storeys to the building.This new profile allows the structure to retain its original charac-ter and, at the same time, brings the building’s height into line with the rest of the street. The long volume of the school home-work unit has plenty of windows. Using polycarbonate, enables the windows to alternate between being translucent and trans-parent. This feature is also highly effective for the residential third floor, where the kitchen window’s transparency opens up the space’s diagonal, while the living room window’s translu-cency acts like a curtain for anyone looking from the outside. (MARIE-CÉCILE GUYAUX)

Project Refurbishment of an old factory, Brussels

4 DIERENDONCKBLANCKE ARCHITECTENwww.dierendonckblancke.eu

FROM NARROW TO WIDEHouse 12K, a narrow construction by Dierendonckblancke architecten on a deep plot of land in Ghent, is conceived as a sequence of three sections of varying heights. In the first section, a transit area between the street and the living spaces that make up the second section (comprising the dining room, kitchen and bedrooms), one finds a hall, workroom and bathroom. The third section houses the seating space. Vistas ensure spatial continuity and, by playing on ceiling heights and openings, all floors are bathed in sufficient light. The rest is a matter of materials. The structure of the building (composed of concrete blocks) serves as the finishing for both the outer and inner shell. Simplicity, intelligence and efficiency in a rough and hard husk. (GÉRALDINE MICHAT)

Project House 12K, Ghent

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IvtK: So what does this mean for the quality of architecture in Belgium?CG: In Flanders, architectural policy is now addressing new areas, such as health care, new concepts for education, or new solutions for high-density living. Ten years ago many of these initiatives would probably have been unthinkable, as there was no infrastructure even to discuss those things. Now we have a network and we produce solutions that – and now I am speaking as the foreign observer – are interesting for other countries in Europe.IvtK: How have the Belgians come so far so fast?AC: Belgian architects are used to the extremely extensive responsibilities an architect is expected to take by law in this country. This has, of course, been the case for a long time. In the current situation it means that architects from Belgium – and this includes professionals from all regions and language groups – are technically knowledgeable. The export product of Belgium is their specials skills. They really know how to build, which is something they learn in the two-year stage that every architect has to go through and that is very rigorous. At the same time, they are also trained to handle a range of scales and to supervise building works on site. This gives them a formidable advantage over their peers in some other European countries. CG: Many architects write about architecture – not necessarily

as academics, but as practitioners. Architects work with artists quite naturally and are quite passionate about these collabo-rations, which in some cases have been going back for decades. There are close connections between the artistic, academic and building practices in this country. There is genuine respect for the artist, the writer and the scholar. This becomes produc-tive as they are collaborating.IvtK: Finally, can we speak of a Belgian style? AC: No. This is a country of individualists and the architec-tural languages and themes that architects develop are mostly highly individual, not to say idiosyncratic. CG: We can, however, we speak of something approaching a com-mon ground. I do believe in the notion of an architectural culture that transcends individual preoccupations. These can be linked to region, or culture, but more often these cultures are connected to cities where architects practise. Architects from Antwerp are intuitively quite different from those working in Brussels, both Francophone and Flemings. These differences seem to me to be rooted in quite long traditions and undercurrents.AC: This is true, that there is great of sensibility for light and material. Far more than in France, for example. And more at-tention to detail, more interest in adding an aspect to architec-ture that you cannot really define. And, very important: it does not just depart from analysis, schemes or scenarios.


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12 OFFICE KGDVSwww.officekgdvs.com

REFRAMING SUBURBAN LIFEOFFICE Kersten Geers David Van Severen (see Interview in A10 #37) built a detached house, self-confidently redrawing the typical Flemish building plot. Four metres from the plot bound-ary – the traditional distance rule – a rectangle of 13 x 29 metres was marked out in steel frames. This steel enclosure forms a boundary and includes part of the garden at both front and back. What lies outside it is not part of the habitation space. The design takes the condi-tions of the individual family house to extremes and shows what is possible when the Flemish housing context is radicalized. The perimeter is drawn up against the house and the steel columns of the enclosure help support the concrete floor slab of the first floor. The detail-ing of the windows and joints offers the least possible resistance between the inside and the domesticated outside. Breaking open the plot and elements of the house makes unexpected constellations of life possible, moments that might depend on the weather, or the social lives of the inhabitants. (STEFAN DEVOLDERE)

Project House, Buggenhout

11 ARCHITECTEN DE VYLDER VINCK TAILLIEU (ADVVT)www.architectendvvt.com

WOODEN MONUMENTALITYIf it were not for the large blue cross facing the street, there is nothing to betray the medical purpose of the new building in the residential neighbourhood of Destelbergen, in suburban Flanders. Apart from a few openings, its interior is impenetrable to the eye. It remains unclear what lies behind the facade of wooden slats that encloses the volume like a paper-thin curtain hanging from the edge of the roof right down to the floor, and which draws all the attention.On approaching the entrance, discreetly marked by the gentle lapping of three small fountains, one recognizes that the facade mate-rial is also the same as that of the roof covering. The view up to the equally flat-seeming roof overhang shows the same sequence of slats as found on the facade. Both the width and the thickness of the slats are uneven. Has a special offer from the local sawmill impacted the design? Whatever the case may be, untreated wood is exhibited here as a working and ageing material. But the veteri-nary clinic is not a timber building. Beyond the threshold, a new story begins, one involving Brutalist Mannerism, the poetry of indus-trial components and the refined rusticity of a simple, solid construction. (AXEL SOWA)

Project Veterinary clinic, Destelbergen

9 51N4E ARCHITECTSwww.51n4e.com

A GENTLE PRECISION ATTACK ON A CHERISHED INDUSTRIAL RELICTIn the Flemish mining town of Genk, 51N4E architects were responsible for the refurbishment of the former Winterslag coal mine (see also the project by NU architectuuratelier). The archi-tectural design exploits the qualities of the existing shell of the former turbine hall and adjacent transformer halls to the fullest. Outside the turbine hall, the entrance appears as a low, black temple, abstracted into a series of dark niches, pulling the visitor into the building.Inside, the overall effect of muted dark elements – balusters, steel girders and columns, repeated ad infinitum, is very effec-tively set off against the enormous, sand-coloured concrete floor and the red-cream pattern of tiles on the mezzanine. The main hall, with its delicate steel roof structure and the engines still sitting in place like shells of prehistoric animals, evokes an industrial past and provides a sense of monumentality.When completely new spaces are required, these are delivered with laconic precision and take the form of industrial sheds con-structed using contemporary technology – shining boxes clad in steel and glass. Where partitions or interior elements are needed, these follow the same logic of cool, unfussy acceptance of scale. Throughout the entire structure, decisions are made with a clear sense of purpose and economy that results in the lavishness of the spaces being accentuated to the greatest possible effect. (CHRISTOPH GRAFE)

Project C-Mine cultural centre, Genk

8 NOAARCHITECTENwww.noaarchitecten.net

THE SUBTLE MODERNIZATION OF A HAUNTED CASTLEIn their project for the ’s Hertogenmolens in the Flemish town of Aarschot, noAarchitecten deliberately keep well away from the reconstruction of a romanticized ideal image to which the restoration of monuments for new catering purposes frequently leads. With a few telling interventions, the architects transpose the rich and eventful history of the windmills to the present day. The dilapidated facades of the mill houses on the south and north banks were reconstructed, including the stepped gable of the south wing, using contemporary materials. The vertical seams and the use of different cladding materials mark the various stages of building and conversion.The burnt-down north mill house has been replaced by a sober volume in smooth, exposed concrete to which iron oxide has been added; this structure contains most of the hotel rooms. Inside, simplicity and roughness guard the interior against ‘designerism’ and generic memory. The propulsion of the water through the lock is raised to the level of a sensory experience: the middle section remains completely open, so that the power-fully rushing water is visible and audible throughout the mill complex. Without overturning the canon of the Venice Charter, noA’s architecture does more than serve an inviolable monument. (ANDRÉ LOECKX & ELS VERVLOESEM)

Project Refurbishment of ’s Hertogenmolens, Aarschot

10 ONO ARCHITECTUURwww.ono-architectuur.be

AN UNCOMMON PROJECTFor ONO architectuur, the initial state of the De Groote-Van Hoeck house typified the traditional characteristics that form the starting point of many renovation projects in Belgium. The result is a modest, neutral and precisely detailed project. An unusual construction had gradually developed with the extensions to the initial house, and the building was in a very poor physical state. The project nev-ertheless finds its source in the existing volume. The extension was added so as to orient itself and rotate the central volume towards the garden. The architects ensured a harmonious continuity between the existing construction and the extension, developing a highly elaborate architectural grammar, not least at the level of the joining of the roofs and walls. The canopy that extends along the rear building contributes to this play on volumes. It suggests a singular area, parallel to the large, accordion-like windows of the kitchen and dining room that encourage life outdoors. (GÉRALDINE MICHAT)

Project House, Tisselt-Willebroek

6 MATADORwww.matador.be

A SPACE FOR POSSIBILITIESThe cultural centre ‘Maison Folie’ in Mons, by Matador archi-tects, was realized in a former public school (see A10 #25). To create a facility capable of adapting to all sorts of events and activities whilst being appropriable by many users and against the initial position of town planning, the architects take into account the entire site instead of simply marking a single build-ing. The spaces of the five existing buildings are consequently left open and fully cleared. With the provincial archives removed, the ‘Margin Halle’ has been left as a full-height volume. The ‘Espace des Possibles’ is formed by two former sections of a school building joined by a hermetically covered playground. The windows on the ground floor giving onto the playground extend all the way to the ground to provide a flow between the different volumes and to form a single whole as and when required. Only one part has been defined, that of the boxes. Everywhere else, the gross volumes have been technically equipped so that exhibitions and shows can be held in controlled conditions. Instead of a highly polished finish, the architects opted to display the history of the premises. The successive appropriations coat the interior of the volume’s infits and starts, endowing them with both a material and imma-terial finish. (AUDREY CONTESSE)

Project ‘Maison Folie’ cultural centre, Mons

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7 ECTV ARCHITECTEN www.ectv.be

FLEMISH BURBERRRY: A NEW RAINCOAT WITH PATTERNSThe conversion of a detached villa in the Ghent area by Els Claessens and Tanja Vandenbussche can be concisely summarized as the rationalization of a 1950s house to which several alterations have been made. Rather than adding anything new, the architects decided to restructure the house internally so that the available volume could be put to better use by the new occupants, a family with three children. This enabled the designers to remove the rear extensions, which improved the relationship between the house and the garden, while also restoring the original volume.This volume was given a completely new facade. To comply with contemporary insulation standards, a thicker layer of insulation and new facade cladding replaced the outer skin. The new skin presents itself quite emphatically as a covering, not only of the house but also of its former state. It is as if a new coating has been applied to the house, an effect that is thoroughly reinforced by opting to set masonry with relief on a smooth base. In this way, the technical aspect of the conversion is expressed almost for the sake of appearances in a gesture that simultaneously acknowl-edges the iconic value of the 1950s dwelling. (MAARTEN DELBEKE)

Project Refurbishment of a house near Ghent

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16 DOORZON ARCHITECTSwww.doorzon.be

THE CITY OF THE MOSQUEIn Flanders, as elsewhere, small mosques are often housed in existing premises – old garages, warehouses or abandoned shops – usually in urban areas with a large Muslim population. Recently, a few new and spectacular mosques have appeared, presenting themselves with orientalizing domes and minarets, their interiors often precise replicas of mosques in North Africa or Turkey. Is there really no alternative than either cautious invisibility or the nostalgic reference to an idealized homeland? Upon invitation by the Flemish Architecture Institute, Doorzon architects designed a neighbourhood mosque for the inner city of Ghent.Doorzon’s proposal is both radical and consciously contextual. Directly adjacent to the Vrijdagmarkt, one of the city’s central cer-emonial and social centres, the architects proposed the mosque as an accessible public garden with amenities such as a bath house, library and book shop, restaurant and café. In the middle of these is a playground situated in a little urban orchard. The spaces for prayer, ritual cleansing and study are located under this public park, detached from the city, which makes itself felt through a translu-cent dome that in turn appears as a mysterious glass sculpture in the middle of Ghent. A poetic provocation and a necessary addition to the culture of the contemporary city. (CHRISTOPH GRAFE)

Project Study project for an Islamic cultural centre and public park, Ghent14 URAwww.ura.be

THE SHED, THE TEMPLE AND THE VEILWhen architecture concerns itself with the economy, in the best case, it gives rise to an ‘intelligent’ or ‘interesting’ version of what we all know and what is actually part of the tra-dition of industrial vernacular. A recent design by Brussels-based URA is more than that. The request was simple: 15,000 m² of storage space and 2000 m² of office space. URA did not search for a new typology, but simply reduced the archetypical form of the warehouse to its essence. The skeleton of the building consists of concrete roof frames, set four in a row along the short side and repeated 30 times lengthwise. The structure that emerges from this pattern is almost entirely covered by three sorts of corrugated sheeting: grey, trans-parent and translucent. The alternation between these three is laid over the building like a puzzle. (CHRISTOPHE VAN GERREWEY)

Project KOP, an industrial shed in Flanders

15 LEDROIT-PIERRET-POLETwww.ledroit-pierret-polet.com

REAR WINDOW PERSPECTIVESPlace Flagey in the south of Brussels is something of a metro-politan set piece of respectable bourgeois apartment buildings and small, half-dilapidated houses adapted to house large im-migrant families in the smaller streets. The boundary between these two worlds runs straight through the triangular urban block where the Ledroit-Pierret-Polet firm was asked to design a community centre and fourteen dwellings. Along one of the two streets, the public amenity states its presence, while the dwell-ings form a building volume of four and five storeys within the block, enjoying a certain elegant detachment from the urban context. Their expression as a screen creating a path between two streets and demarcating two semi-public gardens allows for a series of angled perspectives which create a sense of intimacy and openness in this densely populated Brussels neighbourhood. From the rear windows, a variety of new views of the city is established. (CHRISTOPH GRAFE)

Project Cygne-Digue housing and community centre, Brussels

18 L’ESCAUT ARCHITECTURES (IN COLLABORATION WITH BUREAU D’ÉTUDES WEINAND) www.escaut.org, www.weinand.be

At the bottom of the plot in Soignies lies the covered-over river Zenne. The Victor Jara cultural centre attempts to accompany this transition of relief, building degree and scale and to shape it like a congealing stream. And yet this curved and broken form is never-theless functional: around the back of the building, the steps leading to the higher entrance are also usable as a stage or stand. The dark grey facade is brightened by the addition of green glass to segments of the facade. A fanciful pedestrian path circles the structure, at times running beneath parts of the construction. The vast theatre takes up relatively little space, given that L’Escaut Architectures and Bureau d’études Weinand have ‘returned’ various areas to the city and thus to the public domain. At the same time, circulation in this monolith, together with the rest of the programme, has been organized with great skill so that no space is lost and maximum use is made of both the interior and exterior. (CHRISTOPHE VAN GERREWEY)

Project Espace Victor Jara, Soignies

13 BOVENBOUW ARCHITECTUREwww.bovenbouw.be

AN URBAN FRAGMENT FOR SUBURBIAThe police station designed for the small Flemish community of Schoten is a study in informality and approachability. It begins at the level of urban design. Instead of highhandedly appropri-ating its spot, the police station places itself at the service of the public space. The L-shaped building is pushed back to the rearmost available edge of the large plot and helps to define a new square.Entering the building, the visitor is greeted by a space dominated by two atria, visually linked to one another. One is accessible to the public and contains an open reception desk, the other is in use as a staff canteen. The atmosphere of openness is further enhanced by a footbridge visible to visitors and numerous views through to the workplaces.The choice of materials also helps to create informality. High-grade materials have been avoided – everything has been built from concrete blocks and wood. Cost reductions have also been made on technical installations: the ambient conditions indoors are regulated via natural ventilation. (DIRK SOMERS)

Project Police station, Schoten

17 V+ VERS PLUS DE BIEN-ÊTREwww.vplus.org

LIBERATE THE RIGID BOURGEOISEThe first architectural intervention in France by V+ consisted in designing a kitchen in a second home overlooking Lake Bourget. The addition of a new central space soon became an excuse to reinterpret the entire house in relation to the views and quality of the surrounding landscape, which had thus far been neglect-ed. As the project progressed, the architects gradually accentu-ated the unbalance that can result from the extension of an initial construction. Within the volume of the house, in the lower floor of the extension, the kitchen, piano room, terrace, bedrooms and bathrooms develop a new spatial logic oriented towards the lake. Likewise, the use of the house by a large family led the architects to develop permeable common spaces on the ground floor and to create no less than thirteen entries into the building. ‘We sometimes like to sum up this project as follows: the original house was a hopelessly rigid bourgeoisie, which needed to be liberated by our intervention.’ (AUDREY CONTESSE)

Project Maison du Lac, Chatillon

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Can we export architects? Is architecture a product that we can sell? This essay, edited by A+ publishers, gives a critical overview of the Belgian architecture

scene and of the idea of managing architecture as a product. The publisher, together with editor-in-chief Audrey Contesse, has titled the resulting book Belgian Architecture Beyond Belgium, and attempts to formulate purposeful answers through ques-tions, statements and words.

The essay is conceived through a strategy of two round tables, wherein some of the participants are thinking while others, in the meantime, are discussing and debating. This fea-tured methodology of dialogue in architecture is consistently experienced in several architecture round tables and lecture series, but these have never kept a record of their ideas follow-ing this kind of event. In this case, it was decided to transcribe the round table dialogues in a book. The exchanges are sup-ported with sophisticated research into Belgian history, with perspectives from the context abroad and with a selection of work by young architects.

For the first round table, the export of Belgian architecture was the topic of debate. ‘If you fail to see what an incredible store of knowledge we have in this country, then you can’t promote it.’ The round table members agree that the great professional expertise of Belgian architects is an important advantage; firms with a cultural component to their designs can export them thanks to the strong profile of their content and methodology. Often the European population, or non-architects, feels that architecture is a technical issue, yet the ideas do not have any kind of value in the economic practice of

architects when those ideas are also a product. During the second round table, the discussion focuses on

why architects wish to export their services. The round table members argue very diverse reasons. Different generations also see things differently. But a desire to export is not suffi-cient in itself, there must also be a demand. ‘Architecture is a product, but if you don’t articulate its value, then people won’t be able to interpret it.’ They are therefore brainstorming alter-natives and clues for future architects, thinking of architecture as a brand and not as an art.

Since the beginning of the 19th century, the international-ism opposed to acritic functionalism has always been a focus in the debate about architectural significance. In order to strengthen this debate with the necessity of defining the local condition of Belgian architecture, the editors in chief – such as Arthur Wortmann, Harm Tilman, or Sebastian Redeke – of six international magazines that regularly publish European proj-ects were invited to weigh in. The editors express their views on the highlights and specific characteristics of Belgian archi-tecture, so we can conclude that certain aspects of Belgian ar-chitecture are only involved within the country itself, while others are involved in the international and global develop-ment of professional practice. As a result, Belgian Architecture Beyond Belgium is not just an essay about Belgian architecture outside the country, it is also a far-reaching and more ad-vanced consideration of the current concept of both local and global architecture.

Belgian Architecture Beyond Belgium. A+Editions, 2012, 208 pp. €19,50, ISBN 978940814014

Internationalism vs. Acritic functionalismTEXT: MARIA JOSÉ MARCOS & GONZALO HERRERO DELICADO

Radical Commonplaces – European architectures from FlandersArchitectural Review FlandersTEXT: CHRISTIAN WELZBACHER

There is no shortage of yearbooks on architecture. Al-most every European country has at least one, and Germany has been known to have as many as five. But

with the exception of the independent, now defunct Centrum Jahrbuch für Architektur und Stadt, they are, in essence, the same as their counterparts elsewhere in Europe: annual reports published by associations, museums or institutes with close ties to the state. As a result, rather than a critical cross-section of actual building projects, they tend to offer a summary of best practice. Whether or not this content is at least given a critical treatment, providing a view different to that offered by archi-tecture magazines, depends on the intention of the publisher. In 2008, the Austrian federal state of Styria broke with this routine by hiring a curator, Andreas Ruby, who did everything differently: he commissioned photographer Livia Corona to cre-ate unusual images of the region’s best new buildings; architec-tural photography that was both unorthodox and idiosyncratic.

Why this long preamble when we are talking about a Belgian product? Well, even in its solid design, this year’s Architectural Review Flanders, published by the Flemish Architecture Insti-tute (VAi), clearly draws upon the Styrian model. Although the structure and selection more or less amount to a ‘highlights of local architecture’ collection, the first third is devoted almost ex-clusively to the portrayal of these buildings by architectural pho-tographers, all of them offering distinctive views and an added artistic dimension. The fact that good photographers use reality – and thus also the built environment – as raw material for fic-tions is underlined by comparing their work with the book’s final section, where the projects are presented systematically. As well as being accompanied by lucid essays, most of which frame the building in question as an example of some broader develop-ment (another praiseworthy aspect that goes far beyond the usual yearbook fare), this section also includes ‘official’ pictures, most of them commissioned by the client or architect in ques-tion, conveying a more conservative view of the buildings.

With this balancing act between critical reporting and artis-tic commentary, the 2012 yearbook has a tension that sets it apart from comparable publications. For the outsider, it feels like a careful guide, offering an informal account of develop-

ments in Flemish architecture and giving the impression that something of note is emerging here (albeit in relative obscurity). The main themes concerning the continent as a whole are cov-ered: from a major port conversion (in this case Antwerp) to the more everyday challenges of individual houses (as presented here, the featured projects comfortably stand comparison with the best Swiss architecture). All in all, an accomplished year-book that fulfils its brief of promoting a product, but which does so discreetly, leaving the reader wanting to find out more.

Architectural Review Flanders. Radical Commonplaces – European architectures from Flanders. VAi, 2012, 4 covers, 3 versions in Dutch and 1 English version, 304 + cover pp. €39,50, ISBN 9789461400253 + ISBN 9789081326353 + ISBN 9789081326377 + ISBN 97890813263746

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3 Glass roof of Amsterdam’s Maritime Museum by Ney & Partners

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3 Le Pin Winery by Robbrecht en Daem Architecten in Pomerol, France

3 Holmenkollen ski jump by JDS Architects in Oslo, Norway

3 AIBS House overlooking Ibiza harbor by Bruno Erpicum & Partners 3 Interior ‘Woning Rotelenberg’ by dvvt3 Garden house and court in one by Indra Janda

3 House renovation by de vylder vinck taillieu

Architectuurboek Vlaanderen N°10 2012Radicale gemeenplaatsen – Europese architectuur uit Vlaanderen

Architectuur van: 51N4E, architecten de vylder vinck taillieu, Atelier JPLX, awg architecten i.s.m. MTD Landschapsarchitecten en biq stadsontwerp, De Smet Vermeulen architecten, Diener & Diener Architekten, Gijs Van Vaerenbergh, Indra Janda, Marie-José Van Hee architecten, Neutelings Riedijk Architects, Ney & Partners, noAarchitecten, Office Kersten Geers David Van Severen – Bureau Goddeeris Architecten, Robbrecht en Daem architecten en vele andere.





Architectural Review Flanders N°10 2012Radical Commonplaces – European Architectures from Flanders

Architecture by: 51N4E, de vylder vinck taillieu architects, Atelier JPLX, awg architects with MTD Landscape Architects and biq urban design, De Smet Vermeulen Architects, Diener & Diener Architekten, Gijs Van Vaerenbergh, Indra Janda, Marie-José Van Hee Architects, Neutelings Riedijk Architects, Ney & Partners, noAarchitecten, Office Kersten Geers David Van Severen – Bureau Goddeeris Architects, Robbrecht & Daem Architects and many more.

moreno maggi baukunst - a10.eu · moreno maggi belgium is actually ... also be true for the...

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