As Found: Experiments in Preservation

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.

In this exhibition, we identify seven experimental approaches in intervening in existing buildings and spaces. We deliberately named these experiments with clear spatial terms: ensemble, void, reconfiguration, inside out, traces, mirror and nuance. Seven transformation projects, realized by architects from Flanders and Brussels, are narrated through the lens of a particular experiment. They play the main role in the exhibition while a visual cloud of reference projects accompanies them. Together they show how similar experiments have been carried out in the past or are being implemented internationally today.

Seven Experiments:

• 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, Brussels