Architecture Exhibitions in 'Flanders', 1983-2010

Belgium has never had a national architecture museum or architecture center. At least since the mid-1980s, however, a diffuse landscape emerged of small and mid-sized platforms - organizations as well as gallery spaces - that put architecture on display. In the same period, the Belgian state structure was gradually transformed, shifting cultural and political weight to the subnational levels of the language communities and regions. This is also very visible when it comes to architecture (cultural) policy, and the institutionalization of official architectural culture.

This BOF-starging grant project maps architecture exhibitions, organization and display spaces for 'Flanders', between 1983 and 2010, respectively the moment when the Architecture Museum Foundation (S/AM) was founded, and the moment when the Flemish Architecture Institute started taking care of the entire architecture program at deSingel Arts Campus. To what extent have architecture exhibitions been a medium for architectural debate, and catalysts for bringing about architecture policy initiatives?

Project Info

Research group: Architecture Culture and the Contemporary (ACC)
Start date: 2019
Researchers: Maarten Liefooghe, Maarten Van Den Driessche, Alice Haddad