Jan De Vylder of jdviv architects was invited by the institute for the History and Theory of Architecture (gta) / ETH Zurich in Switserland and e-flux architecture to take part in the debate Psychiatry, Architecture and Knowledge.
The round table took take place on December 1th, but can be re-viewed on the website of e-flux.
The work of the historians at the round table provides multiple potential perspectives on the recent architecture of Jan de Vylder (ETH), in particular the award winning project for the psychiatric clinic Caritas on the outskirts of the town of Melle (a project of Architecten de Vylder Vinck Taillieu 2016). The site posed its own contradictions: the original buildings, which date from a period of psychiatric coercion, can in fact be interpreted as more generous than the postwar buildings on the site that were constrained by regulations and functional requirements. As if conducting an analysis of his own upon the dreams of a disused building, de Vylder brought trees and streetlights inside the clinic, transforming it into a program-free park for patients and the general public alike.
The project Kanunnik Petrus Jozef Triestplein can be found in the buildings database of the Flanders Architecture Institute and is published in Flanders Architectural Review N°13. This Is a Mustard Factory
Review the round table here.