No, we’re not speaking proverbially, instead we take it literally: to make a bridge that reaches across a space! But it takes more than that to make a great bridge. Advances in design software, construction techniques and innovative materials have given engineers opportunities to focus on original, striking and sometimes whimsical designs that impress, while keeping function in mind. The best fit to this description is Brussels-based engineer office NEY+Partners. Read the rest of this entry »
7
May
2013
May
2013
Bridging the Gap
20
Mar
2013
Mar
2013
City Centre Revitalization
What defines a city centre? Back in the day, the most prestigious building adorned and defined the face of a city’s central square. This face would have fixed elements such as a grand church, a great city hall and a prestigious bank. Elements which represent the religious, political and economical aspect of a city. So what if, by coincidence, these elements get an update? You create a city centre revitalization! That’s what happened in the small city of Harelbeke, in the west of Flanders. The city hall and Dexia bank, which overlook each other, both got a contemporary extension! Read the rest of this entry »
13
Mar
2013
Mar
2013
Office Fun
Every morning, thousands of people walk into their office without noticing the architecture of the building. Nothing could be further from the truth for the employees who work in the recently refurbished Alpha Tower. Credits go to LOW architects who transformed the boring 60′s office building situated near the Brussels-north railway station into a remarkable energy friendly landmark! Read the rest of this entry »
28
Feb
2013
Feb
2013
Grafting Light
Modular systems, we love them! That’s why the I Love Belgium team has to talk about ‘Grafting Light‘. Grafting Light is a project by architecture office C.T.A. This office is lead, since 2009, by Nick Ceulemans and Liesbeth Thewissen, who required their experiences in renowned offices such as David Chipperfield, Zaha Hadid and Wiel Arets. Read the rest of this entry »
22
Feb
2013
Feb
2013
Transformation Time
Fact: Belgium was the first country, in continental Europe, in which the industrial revolution took place. As a result, Belgium is filled with working class houses! These small houses have been transformed (most of them in a doubtable way) through the decades by their respectable owners. Today, young owners opt to rebuild these houses in a more convenient and green way while keeping the spirit of the neighbourhood intact. The I Love Belgium team selected three projects to visualise this phenomenon. Read the rest of this entry »
1
Feb
2013
Feb
2013
The Wirtz Gardens
What do Raf Simons, Catherine Deneuve, Richard Rogers, François Mitterand, The Belgian Royal Family and Valentino have in common? They all have worked together with landscape architect Jaques Wirtz! This contemporary landscape architect became renowned and praised for his sculpture like treatment of hedges. Read the rest of this entry »
30
Jan
2013
Jan
2013
Saint Rita by TVDV
Photographer Tim Van de Velde (aka TVDV) contacted the I Love Belgium team with fresh photography material! And guess what? We immediately fell in love with Tim’s photography of this modernist classic of Belgian architecture. The Saint Rita church, designed by architects Léon Stynen & Paul Demeyer, is captured in all it’s glory. Tim even supplied us with “Ceiling of the day” material! Read the rest of this entry »
29
Oct
2012
Oct
2012
Greenhouse Living
As the days are getting darker the I Love Belgium team starts dreaming about greenhouse living: soaking up every last ray of sunshine while longing for summertime! That’s why this transparent family house of architecture office Verdickt & Verdickt serves as a perfect solution! This ready-made house serves as the new archetype for an affordable house, bound to traditional building regulations yet keeping a creative insight! Read the rest of this entry »
15
Oct
2012
Oct
2012
Carlos’ Bubbles
What does a city do when a 40.000 m2 piece of land with an 11.000 m2 industrial shed built in 1991 comes available? Easy: you turn the old Coca Cola Factory into the new city hall and civic centre of Oostkamp! First step? You launch an architecture competition and brief. Result: Madrid-based architecture office Carlos Arroyo comes up with a great, bubbly, concept and takes home the price. Read the rest of this entry »
1
Oct
2012
Oct
2012
Unforseen Architecture
Back in 2006, architect engineer Peter Van Impe searched a place for his newly founded architects-engineer office titled AST 77 (Peter was born in 1977). As a result he stumbled upon an after-war terraced house located at the edge of the city park of Tienen (a city in Flemish-Brabant). After some research Peter got confirmation that this plot, of just 60 square meters, was usable for construction. Although never considers as a usable plot, Peter transformed it into a spacious house/office following the less is more principle! Read the rest of this entry »
19
Sep
2012
Sep
2012
Embassy Architecture
What does it take to represent your country abroad in the best way possible? The new Belgian Embassy building in Athens by Greek-Austrian architecture office Buerger Katsota serves as a perfect example! The façade of a prestigious late 1960’s apartment building was transformed into a perfect ‘Storefront’ for Belgium in the centre of Athens. Read the rest of this entry »
27
Aug
2012
Aug
2012
Perforated Living
In a dense residential and historical area of down town Brussels, a new house conversion drew the attention of the I Love Belgium team. It was architecture office V+ who reconceptualized an existing complexing, boarding two streets and existing out of several architectural elements. Next to the traditional town house, the site houses an industrial building placed in the courtyard and a second 18th century industrial building, which today serves as an auction house. Read the rest of this entry »
11
Jul
2012
Jul
2012
Belgian Interbellum architecture
Before we start this post, we have some explaining to do! As you may have noticed, we were quite silent these last few weeks. But we have a legit reason for that: we renovated and moved into a thirties house. Brussels, the place we are based, and Belgium has a nice selection of interbellum architecture (in between wars). That’s why we show you a small selection of a big archive. Read the rest of this entry »
12
Jun
2012
Jun
2012
Industrial Conversions
As the Belgian population density increases, architects and developers are looking towards the conversions of industrial buildings. Why? Well, there’s a a great stock of interesting but run-down and empty buildings in every city. So if we work towards a denser urban center, we’ll must go for interesting space at a good price in a walkable community. One more reason for the I Love Belgium team to look at two standouts among the many noteworthy conversions Read the rest of this entry »
30
May
2012
May
2012
The Factory
Storage capacity is one of the key elements when you are a kitchen and bathroom manufacturer. So what do you do when you’re in need of additional space? You construct some, there was only one problem: the large mixture in material, construction and roof typology on the manufacturing site created a mix-match of buildings. Brussels-based architect Stein Van Rossem came up with an inventive way to harmonize and create an unique identity for the site. Read the rest of this entry »
21
May
2012
May
2012
Organic architecture
When walking down the street in Antwerp, It was not the first time we were perplexed by the beauty of the building in the Volkstraat in Antwerp. Looking all mysterious, we took a closer look and discovered this building is a school, more specifically a Steiner school. Aside from what we think about their methodology, we thought it was an interesting take on an educational environment. Would the ideology of these schools have something to do with the choice for this type of building? Read the rest of this entry »
16
May
2012
May
2012
The passing of time
The French designer Léa Peckre has proved her worth already in 2011 when she won the prestigious Hyères festival. She wowed the judges with her marble and granite colors and textured clothes. She learned the trade even better by working at big fashion institutes like Jean-Paul Gaultier, Givenchy and Isabel Marant. We can be rightly proud because Léa is a graduate of the Brussels fashion institute La Cambre, and she keeps on making us proud with her new collection… Read the rest of this entry »
15
May
2012
May
2012
The Heritage House
Sometimes you do your discoveries in unexpected places. In Herentals the I Love Belgium team spotted a modern take on a Belgian red brick house. The inclining roof really is a true eye catcher and serves the recognizability of the house. We were not surprised to learn that this house is the home of architect Tim Vekemans, whose office RE-ST (together with Dimitri Minten) conceptualized the building. Read the rest of this entry »
8
May
2012
May
2012
The Entrance Hall
Remember our “The Pub’s Floor” article? The photography of Jimmy Kets turned out to be one of April’s best read articles. So we assume that the I Love Belgium reader has a thing for artistic architectural detail photography. That’s why the I Love Belgium team gives you more of what you love! This time the focus is on mid-century entrance halls! Read the rest of this entry »
4
May
2012
May
2012
The Kitchen Tower
It rarely happens that the Brussels skyline receives a new and exiting skyscraper. So the I Love Belgium team just had to talk about the Elishout tower by Xavier De Geyter Architects. After spending ten years at office for metropolitan architecture, Xavier started his own firm in the early 1990s. Today Xavier is working on several exiting projects and one of them just reached completion: The Elishout Tower! Read the rest of this entry »
