Office Kersten Geers David Van Severen

This year’s ‘Festival of Architecture’ (F/a), organised by the VAi, will offer a view inside two different OFFICE projects, on Sunday September 10th. Both OFFICE 152: Incubator in Waregem, and OFFICE 78: University Library in Ghent will be open for the public. For both projects architectural tours by OFFICE collaborator Jan Lenaerts are offered, for which it is necessary to inscribe. For more information and inscriptions, visit the festival’s website here.

We’re proud to announce that OFFICE has been shortlisted for the architectural competition for the Citroën Cultural Centre in Brussels. The Urban Development Corporation (SAU-MSI) has shortlisted seven teams from the 92 applications received for the conversion  The € 125m project aims to convert the impressive Citroën Yser garage next to the Canal in the centre of Brussels to a museum, an architectural centre and a mix of public cultural, educational and recreational functions of the. For this competition, OFFICE teamed up with Christ & Gantenbein architects, as well as an international team of advisors. More information here.

We’re proud to announce the publication of ‘OFFICE Kersten Geers David Van Severen — Volumes 1, 2 & 3‘ by Walther König. The set of three books, designed by Joris Kritis in collaboration with OFFICE and Bas Princen, are the first parts of our ongoing oeuvre catalogue. They show in a systematic, chronological way the projects from OFFICE 2 to OFFICE 201, spanning a period of 15 years. This overview is complemented by photographs of Bas Princen, Stefano Graziani and Dirk Braeckman, and essays by Giovanna Borasi, Christophe Van Gerrewey and Ellis Woodman, amongst others. Volume 2 was released in a limited number last year, on the occasion of the opening of the exhibition Everything Architecture in BOZAR. Now, exactly one year later, we complete the circle by presenting the full set at the finissage of this same exhibition at the Architectural Association, to which the books function as the de facto catalogue. The book launch will be marked by a small event and drinks reception on Thursday 23/5 at 6:30 pm at the AA bookshop, London.

‘OFFICE Kersten Geers David Van Severen — Volumes 1, 2 & 3’. Hardcover, 21 x 29,7 cm. 432 p., 537 illustrations. ISBN 978-3-86335-924-9. Available for order from June 9th and in bookstores from June 23rd.

The exhibition ‘Besides, History: Go Hasegawa, Kersten Geers, David Van Severen’ is currently on display at CCA, Montreal (CA). In this exhibition, curated by Giovanna Borasi, the architects investigate what role history can play in contemporary architecture practice. They reread, redraw, translate and appropriate from the past and from each other in order to construct relationships and meaning out of a constellation of references. History becomes something that can be used rather than just studied.

Exhibition: Go Hasegawa, Kersten Geers, David Van Severen: ‘Besides, History:Go Hasegawa, Kersten Geers, David Van Severen‘, From May 9 until October 8, 2017, at CCA, Montreal, CA. Opening May 9th at 18:00.

After previously being on display at BOZAR, Brussels, and arc en rêve, Bordeaux, OFFICE’s solo exhibition ‘Everything Architecture’ has traveled to the AA Gallery in London, UK. For this third incarnation, the materials are rearranged to form a new narrative that complements AA’s gallery space. The exhibition will be on display from April 29th until May 27th, access is free of charge. The ‘private view’ opening on April 28th will be accompanied by a lecture by Geers and Van Severen, at 18:30 in AA’s Lecture Hall, which will be open to the public (with limited number of places). 

Exhibition: ‘Everything Architecture’, Apr 28 – May 27.
AA Gallery, London, UK. Open daily except Sundays, free admission.

We’re pleased to announce that after two years of construction, the SOLO House is completed! Solo OFFICE is the second realized ‘Solo House’, part of a project of 12 exceptional homes curated by Christian Bourdais in the mountainous region of Matarraña, two hours south of Barcelona. The house consists of a simple circular roof which frames the top of a plateau and overlooks the surrounding forests and dramatic landscape – underlining the qualities of both the plateau and its edge. Four straight rows of eight columns cut chords out of the circular base shape and define living areas with variable levels of protection. Large sliding walls on the outer edge of the circle allow the living areas to open fully, and provide a seamless transition between the dweller and the surrounding nature.

OFFICE, in collaboration with NFA and BBS, is currently working on the building permit dossier for the ‘Havenlaan 12’ site at the Brussels Canal area for developer Triple Living. The project was the winning entry of a competition organised by the Brussels Bouwmeester and the Municipality of Molenbeek, who chose the project out of preliminary list of 30 teams and 3 final proposals. The site, which sits next to Tour&Taxis, is currently occupied by an office building. This will be replaced by a family of three small towers and a linear housing block, organised around a central semi-public garden. The volumes, which share a similar character and finishing in coloured concrete paneling, will together form a permeable, urban ensemble with a strong identity, which can be seen as a blueprint for future developments. The 28 000 m² of planned floor surface will contain a mix of housing, assisted living, a hotel and various commercial spaces, complemented with private and public outdoor spaces.

OFFICE, in collaboration with Bureau Bas Smets, is proud to announce the opening of the exhibition ‘The Pearling Trail’ at the Bahrain National Museum, which will feature their urban interventions on the Pearl Path, Pedestrian Bridge and at the recently completed ‘Dar’ centre for traditional music (OFFICE 126).

“Four years after the inscription of the “Pearling, Testimony of an Island Economy” site on the UNESCO World Heritage List, the exhibition will showcase the built vision for the site through architectural models, images, studies and mock-ups of the different components of the project. From the conservation aspects to the new architectural interventions, the exhibition will give an in-depth overview of this unique project that aims to spearhead the rehabilitation of the Old City of Muharraq.”

Exhibition: ‘The Pearling Path‘, at Bahrain National Museum, 18 April – 4 August 2017, daily 8:00am – 8:00pm, free admission.

The new bookshop of the Palais de Tokyo in Paris, which was designed by OFFICE for Walther König & Cahiers d’Arts, has opened! The 450 m² shop is conceived as a rectangular perimeter of book shelves entirely constructed out of yellow tinted MDF. One side of the perimeter curves outwards and extends into the Palais’ main hall, functioning as the shop entrance and etalage, and inviting visitors inside. ‘La Librairie du Palais‘ is open daily from noon until midnight. Photo by Bas Princen.

OFFICE, in collaboration with Bollinger+Grohmann engineers, has won the competition for a pedestrian bridge between the Federal House of Representatives and the new Forum building on the other site of the Leuvensestraat, in the centre of Brussels. The bridge, which was explicitly designed as a spatial element rather then a technical solution, is shaped as a ring, suspended between the facades of the two buildings. The result is a generous ‘walkabout’ around a central void, useable as an meeting and dwelling space, and a possible escape from the hectic activities in the two buildings it connects. The project is currently under development, and expected to go in construction in spring 2018.

The exhibition ‘THE BOOKS OF THE ARCHITECTURE OF THE CITY’, curated by Kersten Geers, Victoria Easton and Guido Tesio, is now on display in the Archizoom exhibition space at EPFL. The show, which which previously on display in the Instituto Svizzero in Milan, celebrates the 50th anniversary of Aldo Rossi’s classic book ‘L’architettura della città’, by returning to its sources—it is a survey of all books Rossi explicitly quoted within its pages.

Exhibition: “The Books of the Architecture of the City‘, Archizoom gallery at ENAC faculty, EPFL, Lausanne, CH. February 21th until March 12th 2017, free admission.

OFFICE is participating in the exhibition ‘Spaces without drama or surface is an illusion, but so is depth‘, currently on display at the Graham Foundation in Chicago, IL, US. The show, curated by Wonne Ickx and Ruth Estévez, examines the recent proliferation of collage in architectural representation in relationship to scenography and theatrical set design. OFFICE’s intervention consists of the introduction of a printed ‘trompe-l’oeil’ curtain in one of the exhibition spaces, touching on the bounderies between architecture, installation and decoration.

Exhibition: ‘Spaces without drama or surface is an illusion, but so is depth‘, Graham Foundation, Chicago, IL, US. From Feb 16th until July 1st 2017.

OFFICE’s ‘Corner Chair’ was presented today at the MANIERA gallery, as part of the ‘Corners’ exhibition, which includes works by OFFICE, Trix + Robert Haussman, and Bas Princen. The Chair exists in three variants, with the arm- and backrest in either burl wood, casted resin, or white carrara marble.

Exhibition: ‘Corners’, MANIERA, Brussels, BE. Jan 25th until March 25th 2017.

OFFICE is proud to be a double laureate of the Steel Building Award 2016. Both OFFICE 78: Library and OFFICE 117: Drying Hall were selected by the jury led by Willem Jan Neutelings as best of their categories, respectively ‘steel elements’ and ‘industry’. The jury appreciated the simplicity of the projects, demonstrating a refined use of (standardised) steel elements as both the structure and finish. The prize is awarded on a yearly basis by Infosteel. See all laureates here.

OFFICE’s exposition ‘Everything Architecture’ is currently on display in the ‘Grande Galerie’ at centre d’architecture arc en rêve in Bordeaux, from November 3rd until March 26th, 2017. The show features the same content as the original Bozar exhibition, but reorganised along a new narrative, based on the spaces of arc en rêve. The exhibition will open on November 3rd with a lecture by OFFICE.

We are proud to announce that OFFICE,, in collaboration with Nicolas Firket Architects and Bureau Bas Smets, has won the competition for the redevelopment of the ‘Havenlaan 12’ site at the Brussels Canal area, by developer Triple Living.

The site, which sits next to Tour&Taxis, and facing the future ‘Beco park’ along the canal, is currently occupied by an office building, which will be replaced by a family of three small towers and a lineair housing block, organised around a central semi-public garden. The volumes, who share a similar character and finishing in coloured concrete paneling, will together form a permeable, urban ensemble with a strong identity, which can be seen as a blueprint for future developments. The existing underground parking will be used as the foundation for the new development. The 28 000 m² of planned floor surface will contain a mix of housing, assisted living, a hotel and various commercial spaces. The various types of housing (row houses, apartments and studios) will be complemented with private outside spaces, from gardens at the ground level until terraces, loggia’s and winter garden in the upper levels.

The competition was organised by Brussels Bouwmeester, who together with the Molenbeek commune, the Brussels regional authorities and the client, chose the project out of an original longlist of 30 teams, and 3 final proposals.

OFFICE is participating in the exhibition ‘EUTopia: The Possibility of an Island’ in Museum M, Leuven. The exhibition, curated by plusofficearchitects and Joeri De Bruyn, celebrates the 500th anniversary of Thomas Moore’s classic Utopia, investigating its relevance today through installations by 4 Belgian practices. For this occasion, OFFICE created a new perspective on its 2007 project ‘Cité de Refuge’, in the form of a monumental Trompe-l’œil. The exhibition will be inaugurated by a visit and debate on Thursday Oct 20th. Admission to this event is free, but advance registration is required.

Exhibition: EUtopia: the Possibility of an Island
Oct 20th 2016 until Jan 17th 2017, Museum M, Leuven.

Friday October 14th will see the festive opening of the 25th silver jubileum edition of the Biennale Interieur in Kortrijk XPO. This year’s edition, themed ‘Silver Lining — INTERIORS’, was curated by OFFICE in collaboration with graphic designer Joris Kritis and artist Richard Venlet. Central to INTERIORS is the idea that furniture and objects are not isolated items; they are always part of the organised space. Various international guests have been invited to create these INTERIORS, which are spread throughout the exhibition halls of Kortrijk XPO.

One of these is the ‘SOLO Interior’, designed by OFFICE in collaboration with artists Richard Venlet and Pieter Vermeersch and furniture designers Muller Van Severen, which features an abstracted excerpt of OFFICE’s SOLO house, populated by custom-designed objects and furniture. Furthermore, OFFICE invited Valerie Traan (BE), Etage Projects (DK), Carwan Gallery (LB) and MANIERA to organise sub-exhibitions. In MANIERA’s exhibition space, OFFICE’s new Corner Chair will be presented.

Biennale Interieur 2016, 25th Silver Edition, in Xpo Kortrijk (BE). Open to the Public from 15/10/2016 until 23/10. Full Programme.

‘’t Werkpand Waregem’, a small-scale industrial incubator building for start-up companies in Waregem has been completed. The building, commissioned by POM West-Vlaanderen, is the result of a winning competition entry in 2013, and will provide office and production space for up to 4 young companies in various lines of work. The distorted geometry of the long, aluminium-clad volume ensures plenty of north light for the ateliers, and contains a hidden communal meeting room.

The Form of Form, curated by Diogo Seixas Lopes, is one of the three main exhibitions of the Lisbon Architecture Triennale, which opened last week. For this, Johnston Marklee, Nuno Brandão Costa and OFFICE created a gigantic temporary architecture, consisting of various linked spaces taken from projects of each of the three firms, which function as a ‘conversation’ in which the exhibition’s narrative is developed. The spaces house content selected from the extensive database of the Socks platform, an archive of architectural form compiled by Mariabruna Fabrizi and Fosco Lucarelli, as ‘a non-linear journey through distant territories of human imagination’.

Exhibition: The Form of Form, Lisbon Architecture Triennale, 5 Oct – 11 Dec 2016

The exhibition ‘THE BOOKS OF THE ARCHITECTURE OF THE CITY’ is now on display in the Instituto Svizzero in Milan, IT. The show, curated by Kersten Geers, Victoria Easton and Guido Tesio, celebrates the 50th anniversary of Aldo Rossi’s classic book ‘L’architettura della città’, by returning to its sources—it is a survey of all books Rossi explicitly quoted within its pages.

Instituto Svizzero, Milan. Sep 15th — Oct. 22 2016, free admission.

OFFICE’s studios ‘The Commons’ and ‘Communes (another portrait of America)’ has started in parallel at EPFL (CH) and the Harvard Graduate School of Design (US) respectively. The studios are new incarnations of ‘Architecture Without Content’, a theme which OFFICE has explored in a series of studios undertaken at different schools and universities since 2012.

We are very proud to present El Croquis N.185 on OFFICE Kersten Geers David Van Severen! The issue titled ‘Primary Actions’ features 32 projects spanning the period from 2003 until 2016, as well as an essay by Juan Antonio Cortes and an interview with Enrique Walker. The issue is available in print and digital edition from the El Croquis website, and will be distributed in stores world wide shortly.

Publication: El Croquis N. 185: OFFICE Kersten Geers David Van Severen – 2003-2016 – ‘Primary actions’
Semi-hard cover, 262 pages, 9.5 x 13.5 in – 67 oz
ISBN: 978-84-88386-90-8

Dar Jinaa, one of two centres of traditional music OFFICE designed and built in the old city of Bahrain, has been completed and festively opened. The project, which consists of a ‘Majlis’ (‘collective room’) added to an existing community centre called a ‘dar’ (‘house’), will give a public face to the ancient community of pearl fishers, who will use the building for music performances. The simple structure of concrete columns and floor plates is ‘veiled’ by a fine steel mesh, which functions as a solar protection, and can be lifted to allow by-passers a look inside when the building is in use.

You are cordially invited to the finissage of our exhibition ‘Everything Architecture’, Sunday 29th of May at 16h in the Centre for Fine Arts (BOZAR) in Brussels. A small event will be held to mark the end of this exhibition, an important milestone in OFFICE’s history. For the occasion, an extra 50 copies of ‘OFFICE Kersten Geers David Van Severen: Volume 2’ will be for sale. There will also be a small presentation of two new publications (see below). The exhibition will be open for visits until 18h.

OFFICE is proud to be a part of the ‘Bravoure’ exhibition which has opened on May 26th at the Belgian Pavilion at the Biennale Architettura 2016 in Venice. The exhibition, curated by architecten de vylder vinck taillieu, doorzon interieurarchitecten and architect-photographer Filip Dujardin, focuses on the idea of ‘craftmanship’ in architecture. OFFICE 39: Villa Buggenhout is featured in this light. The Belgian pavilion will also be actively used for events during the biennale. Friday 27th, between 15h and 17h, a conversation is planned with authors and contributors of recent books and magazines coming out of Flanders and Brussels, among which also our own monograph ‘OFFICE Kersten Geers David Van Severen: Volume 2’. Kersten Geers will be present to take part.

Exhibition: ‘Bravoure‘, Belgian Pavilion, Giardini, Venice. 28.05.2016, 10:00 until 27.11.2016, 18:00

Conversation: Books on Architecture from Flanders and Brussels. Friday, 27 May 2016, 15.00 – 17.00 hrs

We are proud to announce two new publications edited by The Laboratory of Architecture as Form (FORM), Kersten Geers’ studio at the EPFL in Lausanne. ‘The Difficult Whole: A Reference Book on the Work of Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown’, will be published by Park Books, and available in architecture book stores soon. ‘Metropolitan Architecture’ is the seventeenth part of the ‘Architecture Without Content’-series. The book and others of the series are available for order via the FORM online shop. Both publications have been designed by graphic designer Joris Kritis, and will be presented on the finissage of ‘Everything Architecture’ (see above).

The exhibition ‘Drawings by OFFICE Kersten Geers David Van Severen’ is currently on display at the ETH Zürich.

“Drawings and collages play a central role in the work of architects Kersten Geers and David Van Severen. In a unique digital visual language dominated by pastel colors, they produce an oeuvre that goes beyond the conventional uses of the architectural drawing for representation and planning purposes. The drawings and collages form an independent body of work presented and treated for the first time in a solo show at a major institution in this exhibition. Presented in contrast to the John Hejduk’s drawings, they show a contemporary approach to the medium of architectural drawing.”

Location: ‘Drawings by OFFICE Kersten Geers David Van Severen‘, gta exhibition, HIL building, campus Hönggerbergh, ETH Zürich.

Date: Thursday, April 21, 2016 to Friday, May 20, 2016 Mon-Fri 10-18, closed on weekends and holidays

Our new publication ‘OFFICE Kersten Geers David Van Severen — Volume 2’ will be officially presented in BOZAR – Centre for Fine Arts, Brussels, this Thursday 24/3 at 19:00.

Volume 2 is the second volume of an oeuvre catalogue in the making. It shows in a systematic, chronological way the projects between OFFICE56 and OFFICE130. This overview is complemented by photographs of Bas Princen and Stefano Graziani, photographers with whom OFFICE has a long-standing collaboration.

The book is introduced by an essay by Christophe Van Gerrewey, and was designed by Joris Kritis. It will be published by Verlag Der Buchhandlung Walther König, and is available in a limited edition on the occasion of the exhibition ‘OFFICE Kersten Geers David Van Severen. Everything Architecture’, currently on display in BOZAR, for which it acts as its de facto catalogue. Volumes 1 and 3 will be published in October, accompanying the exhibition traveling to AA in London and Arc-en-Rêve in Bordeaux.

To celebrate its advent, there will be a small event hosted by BOZAR, in which Bas Princen, Joris Kritis, Bart Verschaffel and ourselves will introduce the publication. The event is free but registration via BOZAR is mandatory.

— Book Launch ‘OFFICE Kersten Geers David Van Severen — Volume 2’ at BOZAR – Centre for Fine Arts (Brussels), 24/3, 19:00 until 21:00. Registration is free but required via this link.

— The exhibition ‘Everything Architecture’ will be open until 21:00, as part of the BOZAR Nocturne. Tickets are required and available at the desk or online.

— The book will initially be available at the book shop in Bozar, and will be distributed internationally by Wather König.

OFFICE’s retrospective ‘Everything Architecture’ will open at Bozar on March 3rd. The exhibition will feature more then 50 projects and 25 collected art pieces.

The point of departure for the exhibition is the idea that each of the products of OFFICE is considered a project in itself. Models, drawings and perspectives are will populate the antechambers of the Centre for Fine Arts as individual objects, together with works of art that are related to the spirit and language of OFFICE. In this field of objects, sculptures are considered as compagnons de route to the architectural production. Paintings and photo’s enforce or break the different antechamber perspectives and search for dialogue. 

The official opening on March 3rd will be preceded by a lecture by Geers and Van Severen in Zaal M of the Bozar complex. Tickets are available via Bozar. 

The exhibition catalogue — in collaboration with graphic designer Joris Kritis — will be presented on March 24th and published/distributed by Walter König.

• Exhibition: ‘Everything Architecture’, March 04 until May 29, 2016, Bozar, Brussels
• Lecture: March 3rd, 19:00, Zaal M, Bozar. Tickets available here.
• Book launch: March 24th, Bozar, Brussels

The competition proposal by OFFICE in collaboration with KCAP for the new Flemish Radio & Television (VRT) headquarters can be seen both in a documentary and a small exhibition.

Through the Open Call of the Vlaams Bouwmeester, five design teams — OFFICE & KCAP, OMA, Robbrecht & Daem, Christian Kerez and architecten de vylder vinck taillieu) were invited to submit a proposal for a new building for the VRT in Brussels. Until February 29 the resulting proposals and their 1/100 models are exhibited in the Atelier Bouwmeester, where one can see the models of the other four competitors.

Canvas has broadcasted the program series ‘Reyers 2020’, which provides further insight into the design and methods of OFFICE Kersten Geers David Van Severen and the other teams. The series can be seen online via the link below.

Exhibition: Expo VRT at ‘Atelier Bouwmeester’, Galerie Ravenstein 54-59, Brussels. January 27 until February 29, 2016

Documentary: Reyers 2020: OFFICE Kersten Geers David Van Severen – KCAP (Canvas)

The jury for the ‘Berlin Art Prize–Jubilee Foundation 1848/1948’ has selected OFFICE as the laureate of the Berlin Art Prize – Architecture 2016. Founded in 1948 by the State of Berlin, the prize is awarded by the Akademie der Künste and consists of one Grand Prize and six Art Prizes in the fields of fine arts, architecture, music, literature, performing arts as well as film and media art. More information here.

Fashion house Paco Rabanne has opened its new flagship store on Rue Cambon in Paris. Creative Director Julien Dossena contracted OFFICE to design the first in a series of new stores, as a step in the new identity of the brand. The compact shop consists of two rooms, defined by intricately designed perimeters of aluminium panels, which can be opened to reveal shelving, display cabinets, or seating. The leather flooring adds to to the atmosphere of refined luxury.

Location: 123 Rue Cambon, Paris. More information via Paco Rabanne, or see the project here.