{"id":123,"date":"2026-09-17T11:40:33","date_gmt":"2026-09-17T11:40:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.blog-archkuleuven.be\/doors-of-perception-26-27\/?p=123"},"modified":"2026-09-17T11:54:08","modified_gmt":"2026-09-17T11:54:08","slug":"assemblea-presentation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.blog-archkuleuven.be\/doors-of-perception-26-27\/2026\/09\/17\/assemblea-presentation\/","title":{"rendered":"ASSEMBLEA Presentation"},"content":{"rendered":"

Please find here the presentation as shown during the ASSEMBLEA in Gent.<\/p>\n

DOORS OF PERCEPTION 2627_6 slides<\/a><\/p>\n

Text as performed:<\/p>\n

Slide 1 | Doors of Perception: Can a Detail Save the World?<\/b><\/em><\/p>\n

Good afternoon.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

The studio is organized by Vincent Matzmorr and myself, Tomas Ooms.\u00a0 We are both architects, and in our work we share a common interest: how architecture can create public value by working with what already exists.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

This studio starts from the importance of understanding, caring for and transforming what is already there.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Therefore we will work on existing post-war buildings in Ghent and Brussels.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

We will use those buildings as a way to develop a method of working with the as found..<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

The subtitle of the studio is <\/span>Can a Detail Save the World?<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Not because a detail solves everything, but because even a small intervention can change the relationship between a building, its users, and the city around it. However, working with a detail does not exclude a grand gesture.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Slide 2 | Understanding the Spatial Contract<\/b><\/em><\/p>\n

We use the concept of the <\/span>spatial contract<\/b> to describe the relationship between a building and its surroundings.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Every building takes something from the world around it: space, materials, energy, attention.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

But every building has the potential to\u00a0 give something back.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

It can create public space, support collective life, offer places to meet, or contribute to the character of a neighbourhood.\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

The aim is\u00a0 to understand the building carefully, to identify its relationships and to explore how it is made.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Slide 3 | Understanding How It Is Made<\/b><\/em><\/p>\n

Also paramount is building up an understanding of how the building is designed, and how it is constructed.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

What materials are present?<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Which elements are valuable?<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

What can be repaired, reused, adapted or transformed?<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

What can be re-used?\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Designing then becomes a form of stewardship for the existing environment.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

At a time when resources are increasingly limited, we see the existing building as a crucial resource to work with.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

The better you understand a building’s material reality, the more possibilities you discover for its future.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

This phase aims for a deeper understanding of architecture as both a cultural and a material practice.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Slide 4 | Exploring Alternatives<\/b><\/em><\/p>\n

The third step is the exploration of alternatives.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

At this point, three strands come together: the spatial contract of the building, its physical reality, and the position of the designer.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Architecture emerges from the negotiation between these three.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Your project will transform and renegotiate the existing spatial contract.\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

The aim is to develop an informed architectural position with the intention to negotiate the spatial conditions and towards a better spatial contract: better for the building itself, but also for the environment in which it stands.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Slide 5 | From Position to Project<\/b><\/em><\/p>\n

The final step is about the relationship between ambitions and means.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

The question then becomes: how can architecture realise these ambitions?<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

You will investigate the spatial, material and constructive means available to them.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

If the previous phase asks what could and should happen?, this phase asks how can architecture make it happen?<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

And you do this with a focus on the detail.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Slide 6 | What You Will Take Away<\/b><\/em><\/p>\n

On the blog you find this presentation, the full studio brief and some examples from previous years.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

The projects you will find there are diverse, but they all share the same process.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

You begin with a careful observation of an existing post-1945 building through one of its details.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

You will build knowledge on the spatial contract and civicness through making.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

You will explore alternatives through design.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

And they arrive at architectural proposals that are rooted in both understanding and imagination.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

The aim of the studio is next to a design project, to provide a context in which you develop your own way of working as an architect, A way of working that starts from what exists, engages critically with reality.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

If this is your thing, then we would be very happy to welcome you to Doors of Perception.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Thank you.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n



<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Please find here the presentation as shown during the ASSEMBLEA in Gent. DOORS OF PERCEPTION 2627_6 slides Text as performed: Slide 1 | Doors of Perception: Can a Detail Save the World? Good afternoon. The studio is organized by Vincent Matzmorr and myself, Tomas Ooms.\u00a0 We are both architects, and in our work we share […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":65,"featured_media":129,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.blog-archkuleuven.be\/doors-of-perception-26-27\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.blog-archkuleuven.be\/doors-of-perception-26-27\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.blog-archkuleuven.be\/doors-of-perception-26-27\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.blog-archkuleuven.be\/doors-of-perception-26-27\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/65"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.blog-archkuleuven.be\/doors-of-perception-26-27\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=123"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.blog-archkuleuven.be\/doors-of-perception-26-27\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":128,"href":"https:\/\/www.blog-archkuleuven.be\/doors-of-perception-26-27\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123\/revisions\/128"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.blog-archkuleuven.be\/doors-of-perception-26-27\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/129"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.blog-archkuleuven.be\/doors-of-perception-26-27\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=123"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.blog-archkuleuven.be\/doors-of-perception-26-27\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=123"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.blog-archkuleuven.be\/doors-of-perception-26-27\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=123"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}