Tag: architecture

Neighbourhood life

Clean air and concrete: A look into Bureau Bas Smets

Clean air and concrete: A look into Bureau Bas Smets

In this second installment of a brand new series enquiring some of the country's most innovative architecture firms, we sit down with Bas Smets to discuss the versatility of the new Madou-based workspace to his latest projects, as the office is celebrating their 10-year anniversary.

Neighbourhood life

Mouse in one hand, pencil in the other: Behind the scenes of GAFPA

Mouse in one hand, pencil in the other: Behind the scenes of GAFPA

In this pioneering instalment of a brand new series enquiring some of the country's most innovative architecture firms, we sit down with GAFPA to examine their intensive career whereby they explored all architecture perspectives, from pedagogy and exhibitions to private commissions and interdisciplinary collaborations.

Neighbourhood life Do the right thing

25 things to do in Belgium this weekend

25 things to do in Belgium this weekend

Simple sonic love in Brussels, synth-pop delights in Antwerp and young friends in Ghent. Go do the right thing.

Art

A new European narrative: Traumnovelle, the Brussels-based architectural collective drawing on fiction to kick Europe into action

A new European narrative: Traumnovelle, the Brussels-based architectural collective drawing on fiction to kick Europe into action

As Traumnovelle’s first financed and selected project for the 16th Venice Biennale of Architecture’s Belgian Pavilion, Eurotopie serves as a call to arms, arousing the sleepy citizens of Europe into a politically committed and engaged population.

Art Portfolio reports

“My paintings are like an interior.” The geometric art of Léon Wuidar

“My paintings are like an interior.” The geometric art of Léon Wuidar

Liège-born and -based painter Léon Wuidar celebrated his 80th birthday this summer. With two shows in Brussels this September, the public has been spoilt rotten with opportunities to discover his wonderful paintings.

Art

Czech Centre Brussels director Jitka Pánek Jurková’s five design reasons to visit Prague

Czech Centre Brussels director Jitka Pánek Jurková’s five design reasons to visit Prague

With their latest grand exhibition 100Czech: The Story of Czech design nearing its opening date, the Czech Centre’s director Jitka Pánek Jurková lets us in on the mastery that is Czech design, and its beautiful manifestations in Prague.

Art On-design

“Outdoor stage design can accomodate that club atmosphere we all love.” HORST festival on eclectic stages and stubborn persistence

“Outdoor stage design can accomodate that club atmosphere we all love.” HORST festival on eclectic stages and stubborn persistence

With less than a week to go to its fifth and final edition, we speak with the founders of HORST about their steadfast focus on stage design as a way of creating the ultimate festival experience.

Neighbourhood life

51N4E: The architecture practice using Brussels as a testing ground for future change

51N4E: The architecture practice using Brussels as a testing ground for future change

We sat down with Brussels-based architectural practice 51N4E's co-founding partner Freek Persyn to talk about their growing influential role, the necessity of a bottom-up approach to city planning and how Brussels is the best playground an architect could currently hope for.

Neighbourhood life Do the right thing

20 things to do in Belgium this weekend

20 things to do in Belgium this weekend

Tail-wagging jazz in Leuven, revelatory spoken word in Brussels and intimate portraits in Ghent. Go do the right thing.

Neighbourhood life This is Belgium

10 public libraries in Belgium

10 public libraries in Belgium

Public libraries fulfil an invaluable, and very necessary, role in modern society – we pay tribute to some of the country’s most distinct and distinguished ones in the hope of encouraging you to renew your membership once and for all.

Art Portfolio reports

Seeing the bigger picture: Nick Ervinck’s virtual reality

Seeing the bigger picture: Nick Ervinck’s virtual reality

With the virtual world at the tips of his fingers, Nick Ervinck's brush is a radical tool for control and manipulatation, and in creating exciting new possibilities like printing pre-designed food.

Art Curator talks

From riots to regeneration: Operational Aesthetics opens today at CIVA in Brussels

From riots to regeneration: Operational Aesthetics opens today at CIVA in Brussels

We consider the transformative effect of Neighbourhood Contracts on Brussels' landscape, economy and social cohesion.

Neighbourhood life This is Belgium

Neighbourhood Heroes: Best for cultural centres

Neighbourhood Heroes: Best for cultural centres

Our finetuned selection of cultural centres: the undisputed unsung heroes of the neighbourhood, the beacons of cultural empowerment remaining a crucial and necessary function of the social landscape.

Neighbourhood life

Neighbourhood watch: The design improvements Region of Brussels’ residents would bring to their Communes (Part 2)

Neighbourhood watch: The design improvements Region of Brussels’ residents would bring to their Communes (Part 2)

Nine more Brussels-based locals imagine the potential futures for architectural design in their neighbourhoods.

Neighbourhood life

Neighbourhood watch: The design improvements Region of Brussels’ residents would bring to their Communes (Part 1)

Neighbourhood watch: The design improvements Region of Brussels’ residents would bring to their Communes (Part 1)

10 Brussels-based locals imagine a future for architectural design in their neighbourhoods.

Art Exhibition reviews

Five things to check out at ING Art Centre’s “Christo and Jeanne-Claude: Urban Projects”

Five things to check out at ING Art Centre’s “Christo and Jeanne-Claude: Urban Projects”

ING Art Centre are visiting Christo and Jeanne-Claude's impressive career for this year's expansive exhibition, and we handpick five unavoidable points for the occasion.

Neighbourhood life Do the right thing

10 things to do in Belgium this weekend

10 things to do in Belgium this weekend

Offline fashion stints in Antwerp, electro wizards in Ghent and urban glorifications in Brussels. Go do the right thing.

Neighbourhood life Do the right thing

10 things to do in Belgium this weekend (Mockup)

10 things to do in Belgium this weekend (Mockup)

In collaboration with ING Art Center, here's our list of tips and tricks for a culturally active WE in Belgium.

Neighbourhood life Do the right thing

25 things to do in Belgium this weekend

25 things to do in Belgium this weekend

The weekend has landed, and it’s going to be a big one for art-lovers.

Art Curator talks

MuHKA’s Bart De Baere on the contemporary art institution’s recent expansion

MuHKA’s Bart De Baere on the contemporary art institution’s recent expansion

We talk to Bart De Baere, MuHKA's director, about the institution's recent changes, choices and visions for the future.

Art On-design

On aesthetics and trust with Specht Studio’s Stephanie Specht

On aesthetics and trust with Specht Studio’s Stephanie Specht

Vivid and vibrant aesthetics courtesy of the equally vivacious Antwerp-based Stephanie Specht.

10 things to do in Belgium this weekend

10 things to do in Belgium this weekend

Rooftop sunshine in Mons, experimental soundwaves in Antwerp, and stunning Syrian energy in Ghent.

Neighbourhood life Belgium building

Park Spoor Noord, Georgios Maïllis’ favourite place in the country

Park Spoor Noord, Georgios Maïllis’ favourite place in the country

Charleroi's Bouwmeester tells all about the quintessential Antwerp green lung - and why places like these are crucial in today's cities.

Neighbourhood life

Rotor’s quest to safeguard the country’s design and interior heritage

Rotor’s quest to safeguard the country’s design and interior heritage

The meteoric rise of Rotor, the company salvaging Belgium’s design and interior heritage one construction site at a time.

Neighbourhood life

Roeland Dudal on why a good city needs industry

Roeland Dudal on why a good city needs industry

Following Architecture Workroom's exhibition at BOZAR, we asked one of its co-founders to elaborate on the matter.

Neighbourhood life This is Belgium

20 portraits taken from our book Thiis iis Belgiium

20 portraits taken from our book Thiis iis Belgiium

In Internet speak, it's called throwback Tuesday: 20 portraits culled from our book Thiis iis Belgiium.

Neighbourhood life Belgium building

Bart Sibiel on Brussels’ Marnix building

Bart Sibiel on Brussels’ Marnix building

To kick of this new online series, we asked Bart all about his favourite Belgian building, the Marnix mastodon on Brussels' Boulvevard du Trône / Troonlaan.

Neighbourhood life This is Belgium

13 Belgian brutalist gems

13 Belgian brutalist gems

Unearthing some of the most striking and singular examples of Belgium's Brutalist movement

Neighbourhood life

That time we…Took a closer look at the local legacy of architect Jacques Cuisinier

That time we…Took a closer look at the local legacy of architect Jacques Cuisinier

Writer Bart Sibiel and photographer Veerle Frissen take a tour of Jacques Cuisinier's Brusilia tower.

Art Portfolio reports

Stephanie De Smet’s Inside green

Stephanie De Smet’s Inside green

Photographer Stephanie De Smet, Instagram's #insidegreen queen, reveals the ins and outs behind her iconic series.

Neighbourhood life Do the right thing

Ten things to do this weekend

Ten things to do this weekend

Concerts in Kortrijk, group shows in Antwerp, vinyls markets in Brussels, drawings in Liège and artists teaming up in Brugge.

Neighbourhood life Area codes

Area codes: Dieter Van Den Storm’s Brussels North district

Area codes: Dieter Van Den Storm’s Brussels North district

Change to this gritty cityscape is a long time coming...Brussels' north inner city gets a once-over.

Neighbourhood life Area codes

Area codes: Coffeeklatch’s Magali and Bart on Antwerp North

Area codes: Coffeeklatch’s Magali and Bart on Antwerp North

The prolific profilers talk gentrification and architectural gems in this crash course on their north city 'hood.

Art

The sweat-stench and smoke-scent of empty nightclubs

The sweat-stench and smoke-scent of empty nightclubs

When the lights go out and the bar is closed for business, nightclubs take on a whole different persona. 354 photographers and Alex Salinas look at the other side of clubbing, the one the owners and club promoters would rather you didn’t see.

Neighbourhood life

Dirty pretty things

Dirty pretty things

We profile those shoe scraper thingymajiggies that the posh of yore used to stop dragging horse shit through the parlour.

Neighbourhood life This is Belgium

The best architectural renaissances in Brussels

The best architectural renaissances in Brussels

The last part of our series on re-purposed spaces brings us to the Belgian capital where Adriaan Hauwaert and Jef Claes zoom in on the transformations of the Wiels museum, Recyclart and La Bijouterie.

Neighbourhood life This is Belgium

The best architectural renaissances in Ghent

The best architectural renaissances in Ghent

In the second part of our series on repurposed old spaces and buildings, up-and-comer Adriaan Hauwaert takes a look at Ghent's Huis van Alijn and the Nucleo project.

Neighbourhood life This is Belgium

The best architectural renaissances in Antwerp

The best architectural renaissances in Antwerp

In the first part of our series on old spaces that have been granted new life, we turn our attention to Antwerp's Kammenstraat church, now a concert hall and a railway depot-turned-city park.

Neighbourhood life

My little white screen

My little white screen

Frédéric Nicolay, the creative mind behind Café Belga, Potemkine and cult Belgian beer Vedett, continues in his quest to freshen up Brussels with his neighbourhood-loving little white screen project.

Art

Rise and shine: photographer Adriaan Hauwaert

Rise and shine: photographer Adriaan Hauwaert

Taking a look at final year photography student Adriaan Hauwaert's mesmerising short series on typical Belgian residential architecture was enough for us to want to find out a little more. Here, we have a quick chat with the rising talent.

Art

The Word magazine

Brussels given the Wallpaper* treatment

With Antwerp having aquired the W* cachet a while back now, it was high time for the global style bible to take a closer look at our capital city, in the shape of its Wallpaper* City Guide Brussels edition, which launches this Friday from 19h00 at Brussels’ Sterling Books. Edited by Brussels-based journalist Guy Dittrich, […]

The Word magazine

Studio Job does it Neighbourhood Style

An outlying Amsterdam housing project is now the home to 800 square metres of ornamental friezes designed by Studio Job. Decorating the façade of 5 large new buildings commissioned as part of a development by Far West, the designs feature a rich collection of the Studio’s iconic graphics, from gymnasts to guns, insects to syringes, […]