The exhibition As Found focuses on the new relationship between contemporary design and heritage. Using experimental, groundbreaking, (inter)national examples, the exhibition explores the different positions that contemporary designers adopt in relation to existing buildings.
From 6th September 2023 until 17th March 2024, the VAi/Flanders Architecture Institute and De Singel present the exhibition As Found: Experiments in Preservation at De Singel International Arts Centre in Antwerp, Belgium.
Seven experimental approaches to intervening in existing buildings and spaces are identified and deliberately named in clear spatial terms: ensemble, void, reconfiguration, inside out, traces, mirror and nuance.
Seven projects of transformation realised by architects from Flanders and Brussels are each narrated through the lens of a particular experiment:
- Het Steen, noAarchitecten, 2021 Antwerp
- Chapex, AjdvivgwA : AM architecten jan de vylder inge vinck – AgwA, 2024 Charleroi
- Open-Air Storage for the Art in the City Collection, Aslı Çiçek, 2021 Antwerp
- Mortsel Town House, Eagles of Architecture, 2024 Mortsel
- Het Predikheren, Korteknie Stuhlmacher Architecten, Callebaut Architecten, Bureau Bouwtechniek, 2019 Mechelen
- Boekentoren and State Archives, Robbrecht en Daem architecten, 2021 and 2014 Ghent
- Malibran, Carton123 architecten, 2020 Elsene/Ixelles, Brussels
These projects play the main role in the exhibition, accompanied by a visual cloud of reference projects. Together they show how similar experiments have been carried out in the past or are being implemented internationally today.
The exhibition design by FELT architecture & design follows the principles of the exhibition and explores the potentials of this exhibition hall in its ‘as found’ state. By using the existing wooden floor planks and the suspended ceiling panels in the hall, they create the corridors for the seven experiments.
Practical information:
- DATE: 06/09/2023 – 17.03.2024
- LOCATION: De Singel (Expo)
- ADDRESS: Desguinlei 25, 2018 Antwerp, Belgium
- CURATORS: Sofie De Caigny, Hülya Ertas, Bie Plevoets
- SCENOGRAPHY: FELT architecture & design
- PRODUCTION: Flanders Architecture Institute and De Singel
- WITH THE SUPPORT OF: the Flemish Community
For more information see the website of the Flanders Architecture Institute: https://www.vai.be/en/agenda-expos-en-programma/as-found
(Text credit: VAi/Flanders Architecture Institute)