M HKA Ensembles

Installation, variable dimensions.

This Wunderkammer portrays a new generation of architects in the Low Countries on the rise. The aim of these architects is not to make abrupt changes in architecture, but to design in a sustainable and future proof way by closely reading the existing urban texture, and interpreting artistic and architectural references. In the Netherlands this generation grew out of the wake of the economic crisis, a specific condition that prompted an abrupt re-evaluation. The architecture at the time had been too isolated, fragmented, and too much defined by its own internal logic. In Flanders it is the continuation of an older cultural tradition, trying to make sense of the fragmented Belgian urban condition.

These new practices aimed to regain a wider perspective by re-evaluating the overall history and through association, the notion of typology, the specifics of context, the tradition of craft and the richness of art. Rather than creating something new and isolated, they look for the threads already there and weave them together. The design then lies in enriching the existing fabric; building upon anecdotes from history, incident and context.

The objects in this room are fragments of this generation. They are objects of thought and objects of realisation. Viewed together through the association of the visitor, their relationships become evident.