In this book, together with Pierre Chabard, Philippe Vander Maren and Richard Venlet explore and explicit the design process of House D through a set of unpublished work documents such as sketches, scale models, series of annotated plans, collages and pictures. They retrace the collaboration with the client, the exchanges between the architect and the artist, the moments of discovery of essential features of the design, the similarities and dissonances with architectural precedents.
The In Practice series explores the multiple ways in which architects can engage their professional architecture practice in academic research and reciprocally. In Practice seeks to open a space for architecture practices in research through the development of methodologies, conferences, publications and studios.
Philippe Van Der Maren is a Belgian architect based in Leuven.
The work of Brussels-based artist Richard Venlet (born 1964 in Hamilton, Australia) combines installation art, artistic research, exhibition design and architecture. His work has been shown in numerous national and international galleries and museums, including: WIELS and BOZAR in Brussels, S.M.A.K. in Ghent, Kunsthalle in Düsseldorf, Macba in Barcelona and Culturgest in Lisbon, amongst others. Venlet creates "environments" out of spaces. His refined abstract aesthetics and the pragmatism of his work go well beyond a simple formal reference to Modernism and Minimalism. Working in context-specific situations, he has produced numerous installations that incorporate the work of other artists and collaborators, forming composite and circuitous environments that are often whimsical reconfigurations of the architectural space. By intervening in a space, the artist gives the viewer an experience of alienation; making them see their surroundings in a new way and occupy a central place in them. As an artist who deliberately intervenes within architectural and exhibition spaces, Venlet pursues this interest in architectural production by means of regular collaborations with architectural offices, such as
OFFICE Kersten Geers David Van Severen.
