NoAarchitecten. North North West

reprinting/in herdruk oktober 2017

Stephen Bates and Christoph Grafe

Architectura & Natura, Amsterdam, 2014

29,50

out of print

Brussels based NoAarchitecten have been able to create a form profile for themselves from the very beginning, with both notable small buildings and several large-scale public buildings including the Petrol electricity cabin in Antwerp and the spatial metamorphosis of Menen town hall.

A contemplative study room for students in Hasselt turns out to have been a prison cell. A facade introduces reading into the city and gives the Plantin-Moretus Museum collection a (protective) face. In their projects, noAarchitecten try to go beyond the visual experience to arrive at an all-round spatial experience. In the course of time a seemingly intuitive design approach transformed into a proper design strategy.

noAarchitecten takes up a position subtly reconciling the principal, the building/assignment and the future user. The firm sometimes even opts for different approaches within a single building. The result is contradiction and complexity. An ambiguity which this collective explores by means of a meticulous plan and a precise selection of colours and materials. This architecture is never neutral. It is intended to uplift, but never becomes pedantic. It is specific, offers a tailormade location and gives an almost ritual dimension to everyday actions.

Artikelnummer: 11027 Categorie:

ISBN: 9789461400451

266 pages, color & b/w illustrations, 24 × 29 cm, paperback, Dutch/English