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Alwies Vandaele: Shaping the hidden: A strategy for the Holy Heart Basilica of Koekelberg, Brussels (BE)

Shaping the hidden
How to get more insight in the process of a design is one of the main questions in this dissertation. How are things made? In architectural presentations or critics we only look at a finished product. The process towards it is mostly hidden. By exposing the process, we can learn more about the underlying design intentions. The end product in the form of a design isn’t the result of an act of genius, but of a messy process of investigating, doubt and testing different ideas.

Based on David Hockney’s strategies explained in the book ‘A Bigger Message – Conversations with David Hockney’ by Martin Gayford the drawings as a medium to perceive this world is central to this dissertation. Shaping the Hidden, the book that is the result of this work, explores the impact of drawing. According to Hockney drawing is the most realistic way of recording space. He shows us how to see and experience space through this medium. We are able to look more intensely to what we see and to put different perspectives in one image. Though we shouldn’t look at drawing as a purely old school skill. With new technologies we can combine different media. This insight makes us look at drawing from a different perspective.
Following this the research did not approach the site of the Koekelberg Basilica, as an object. Instead the works looks beyond the obvious and unravels the hidden inside (and below) the building by examining the spatial experience and context of the basilica. The explorations and experiments are done through the use of different methods of drawing.

We tend to look at what we can see, but we aren’t always aware of what we don’t. Hidden beyond the obvious the most interesting spaces appear. The way we look at our built environment differs from person to person. From user to designer, everyone has a personal perception of architecture. As architects we see what is hidden for the eye of the user. Furthermore the essence of what we see, the construction, is hidden behind what is visible. We try to look at an intervention as a whole, while the user only sees parts.

Shaping the Hidden