2G 55: Robbrecht and Daem

Paul Robbrecht and Hilde Daem have been active as architects in the Belgian city of Ghent since 1975. Their work moves between the local traditions of Flemish building and cosmopolitanism acquired, in the main, as a result of their collaborations with international artists on exhibition and museum spaces. Their 35 years experience is enough to produce a mature body of exceptional work attentive to context and local technique, yet one aimed beyond the borders of their country. Their buildings address different typologies, from cultural buildings, spaces for art and public spaces to conversions of old offices, in which painstaking construction with traditional materials and schemes that are simple in layout and of great spatial richness inscribe their work within a certain central European tradition of the ordinary. This number of 2G presents 18 projects by Robbrecht en Daem, 15 of them built, which extend from public spaces for various Belgian cities (Antwerp, Ghent and Knokke) and urban amenities of major importance like Bruges Concert Hall to small projects inserted in the landscape, like a cabin in the woods, a pair of observation towers and a dovecote. The works are preceded by two critical essays by British architect William Mann - currently also Director of the Whitechapel Art Gallery in London - and by Iwona Blazwick, and are rounded off by thoughts from Paul Robbercht himself about the relationship between architecture and painting