Architect, educator and bookmaker Harold Fallon, one of the co-founders of the architecture office AgwA, passed away on 20 July 2026, aged 49. The VAi mourns his passing and emphasises the significant influence Fallon has had and continues to have on the field of architecture. In a short piece Hülya Ertas, coordinator of exhibitions and publications at the VAi, pays tribute to Fallon.
“Through their designs AgwA recalibrates what sustainability means for architecture, especially renovation projects, and how materials and energy consumption can be handled completely out of the box. What started as a little experiment in limiting climatised volumes in Harold, Evelia Macal and their family's own house Verbiest in Brussels scaled up to public projects, particularly schools. At the largest scale is the Chapex (Charleroi Palais des Expositions) designed by AgwA and architecten jan de vylder inge vinck. The project won the prestigious EU Mies Award just a few months prior to Harold's passing."
"I got to know Harold in my first project at the Flanders Architecture Institute. The idea was to make a book to celebrate the 20 years of the institute. When we started our collaboration, I was automatically thinking of names to invite to write in the book, and Harold, as the editor, would choose who from my list. But of course, he invented a different approach. We were going to start letter chains, not only textual but also visual. I was a bit worried about how to stay in control—as people could just propose others we might prefer to avoid. Harold was not worried about losing control; that is maybe where he saw the richness of the overall project and the book as its outcome. For me, it was a lesson in 'trust in the process'."
"Harold loved making books. It is no surprise that we found each other so easily while making the book 20 Years of VAi. Apart from editing books on the practice of Agwa and specific projects, Harold also co-founded the inspiring journal Architecture in Practice, carving deep into the intersections between practice and academia. A reflection of his commitment in teaching. He was a beloved colleague at KU Leuven Faculty of Architecture for many years, where he did not see much of a distinction between his practice and teaching, initiating projects that easily fill in the cracks, like a river. Rio Sumpul Massacre Memorial was one such project. It commemorates a 1980 attack in El Salvador by the military, killing 600 civilians. The memorial project spanned almost a decade of work. The whole project is a tour de force of Evelia and Harold in bringing people together. Not to achieve greatness alone, but to make it with as many people as possible, pleasantly collaborative, in ways that we feel OK to lose control.”
- Hülya Ertas
