Homeward

Contemporary Architecture in Flanders

commissioned by the Flemish Community

Concept and direction of 11 video’s for exhibition

‘Homeward - Contemporary Architecture in Flanders’ is made to travel abroad.

Ten projects – 9 realized buildings and an urban plan- have been selected to tell the story of contemporary architecture in Flanders over recent decades. Video is firstly used to put the buildings in a broader context, and secondly to show buildings in use.

Shown at Le Magasin Grenoble 1999, Academica Belgica, Rome 2000, Venice Biennale 2000, deSingel Antwerp 2000.

Exhibition

Each project is presented on 2 tables which show plans, sketches, photographs, text and sometimes a model. Each project has is own video which is shown on a monitor on the table. By doing so, the information on the tables and in the video are directly related. The video’s are 3 to 4 minutes and edited in a loop. During the exhibition they are shown simultaneous. The sound consist out of general noise which should be put on a low level as a whispiring sound

Contains photography by Paul Casaer.

Selection of films from Homeward

Introduction. The exhibition begins with general information about housing and the urban planning conditions of Flanders. The video than shows the main themes of these conditions and introduces the ten projects.
Nursery school. The video shows the nursery and its context: its location within a house block in an outer borough of Antwerp on a former football field. A pupil and his father are filmed while walking to school in the morning. Shots during a school day show how the space functions and the interaction between the small, playful children and the severe architecture. Architect Wim Cuyvers 1985-1987
Gallery and guesthouse in old industrial premises in the centre of Brussels. The project is situated in the centre of Brussels. The art gallery is a refurbished floor of old industrial premises; the guesthouse is a new penthouse on the roof. The video shows the location by filming out of a car from the motorway around Brussels tot the location. The gallery and guesthouse are shown during a day of the opening of an exhibition. One can see the view on Brussels from the guesthouse with its glass facades and roof terraces. Architects Paul Robbrecht & Hilde Daem, 1991
An industrial bakery on an industrial state alongside the motorway. The architecture of the industrial bakery responds to its typical location at the edge of an agricultural and industrial property in the Flemish nebular city. Architects Ronny De Meyer & Lut Prims, 1993-1995