Panel session
The VAi and PAF (Platform for Architecture & Feminism) are organizing a series of four roundtable discussions to coincide with the exhibition Unfolding the Archives #9 Feminist Perspectives 1980-1990. The exhibition shines a spotlight on the networks surrounding the 1984 symposium Wonen en woonomgeving vanuit vrouwen bekeken [Housing and the living environment from a women’s perspective] and the former Vrouwen en Wonen [Women and Housing] working group. On 24 April, we bring together five generations of architects: Joke Vermeulen, Inge Vinck, Lauren Dierickx, Lien Kavutse Baele and Zeynep Topçu, to continue the discussion.
In a series of morning sessions, Evelien Pieters (PAF) enters into conversation with feminist voices from the 1980s–1990s as well as with contemporary designers, researchers, and activists. The discussions start from archival materials, experiences, and practices. Rather than looking back, they extend feminist thinking and doing in architecture and the built environment. The roundtable discussions are moments of encounter and reflection, serving as a way to build a living memory on which new design practices can continue to grow.
This first roundtable discussion focuses on ‘craftwomanship’. Archival material from the 1984 seminar Housing and the living environment from a woman’s perspective, together with an intergenerational debate from the 1990s, offers insight into what it meant, some 30 to 40 years ago, to be a woman working in the Belgian architecture sector.
Today, we continue the discussion by bringing together five generations of architects: Joke Vermeulen (Compagnie-O), Inge Vinck (AJDVIV / IVJDVA), Lauren Dierickx (LSDRa), Lien Kavutse Baele (BRarchitects), and Zeynep Topçu (BC architects & studies).
We explore how ‘craftwomanship’ manifests itself in design and practice, and raise questions around care, positioning, and professional value. What is seen, recognized, and passed on – and what is not?
Joke Vermeulen (b. 1969) is an architect and co-founder of Compagnie-O. In her practice, she approaches architecture as a spatial, social, and political field in which design is never neutral. She teaches in Brussels, Leuven, and Venice, and draws on her experience as a woman in the field to critically reflect on the role of the architect and the dropout rate of women from the profession.
Inge Vinck (b. 1973) is an architect and co-founder of architecten jan de vylder inge vinck / inge vinck jan de vylder architecten (AJDVIV / IVJDVA). Her multidisciplinary practice moves between making and thinking, combining international projects with reflections in words and images. She is also a professor at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf and a board member of 019 Gent.
Lauren Dierickx (b. 1981) is an engineer-architect and urban planner. Since 2017, she has led LDSRa, an architectural practice in Ghent where construction, imagination, research, and practice go hand in hand. She builds and renovates with a strong commitment to intelligent reuse and has a particular interest in inner-city conversion projects. In her work, she continuously seeks new balances – between city and nature, and between the interior and exterior.
Lien Kavutse Baele (b. 1990) is an architect and lecturer. She studied at KU Leuven (Sint-Lucas Ghent) and obtained a master’s degree in Conflict & Development at Ghent University. As Studio Director at BureauBR, and through her work in education, she advocates for greater representation and intersectional change, with a focus on lowering barriers for women of colour in architecture.
Zeynep Topçu (b. 1993) is an engineer-architect with a master’s degree in Urban Planning. She works as a freelance architect and collaborates with BC architects & studies. She is also a teaching assistant in Architecture at KU Leuven, Campus Sint-Lucas.
EXHIBITION
Feminist Perspectives 1980 - 1990 looks back at Flanders in the 1980s, when the struggle for gender equality also reached the architecture sector. Delve into the archives of the Vrouwen en Wonen working group and discover these links for yourself.
03.04.2026 - 28.06.2026
DE SINGEL (Expozaal), Antwerp
24.04.2026
10:00h — Welcome & coffee
10:30h — Start roundtable
12:00h — Roundup discussion & reflection
12:30h — End
DE SINGEL (Exhibition Hall)
Desguinlei 25
2018 Antwerp
The roundtable discussion will be held in Dutch.
Free of charge, upon registration
Limited seating
Register via the online form
08.05.2026 #2 Public Space. Ticket(s) & info
29.05.2026 #3 Activism as practice. Ticket(s) & info
12.06.2026 #4 Women's movement. Ticket(s) & info
PAF (Platform voor Architectuur & Feminisme) x Flanders Architecture Institute (VAi)
the Government of Flanders
The main address of the Flanders Architecture Institute is located in De Singel International Arts Campus, next to the R1. From the main entrance on the Desguinlei follow the signs to Beel Laag (± 3 minutes on foot).
There are spaces reserved for wheelchair users in all halls of DE SINGEL. Please contact us in advance at tickets@desingel.be so that we can reserve a space for you. You can use an elevator to reach the halls. Enter through the main entrance of DE SINGEL and make your way down the ramp to the left of the stairs to take the lift. Read more about the accessibility
You can store your coat, handbag or backpack in the free lockers available at DE SINGEL. These are located in two places: in the locker area under the stairs at the main entrance via Desguinlei, and at the Theatre Square in Beel Laag. Instructions on how to use the lockers can be found on the side of the locker column.
