Pasticcio - Continuïteit in de Europese architectuur

In the exhibition ‘Pasticcio – Continuity in European architecture’, the Flemish Architecture Institute and deSingel bring together a group of seven contemporary European architects who all work outside the mainstream. The exhibition is a critique on the loss of quality and intimacy as a result of globalisation. It aims to demonstrate the power and diversity with which contemporary architecture can react to this, provided that it is based on continuity and a common culture.

The seven selected architects - Hermann Czech (AT), Knapkiewicz & Fickert (CH), Märkli Architekt (CH), Hild und K Architekten (D), Caruso St John (UK), biq (NL) and Bovenbouw (B) – represent some three generations of architectural practice. The projects exhibited display a similar attitude to architecture. Despite their different backgrounds and surroundings, the seven designers have a shared interest in architectural conventions, and more specifically, in twisting and manipulating these conventions. Concepts like tradition, memory, association, craft and archetype are challenged. What we see in the buildings is neither a narration of history, nor is it essentialism or purity. Instead we see a number of idiosyncratic attempts to ensure that renewal is given a place in the architectural tradition. Idiosyncrasy, familiarity and surprise are the common threads that hold this colourful collection of projects together.

These designers seem to have broken free of the rupture that was caused in the profession by modernity – the avant-garde architecture of the early 20th century. The succession of new theoretical schools of thought, which prescribed new architectural forms, is also absent from their combined oeuvre. Their work taps into a collective memory of a building tradition and is both concrete and direct. Consequently the projects embrace the ordinary and yet are highly exceptional. Themes include a focus on proportion and ornament, an interest in interior design, carefully composed facades and the use of colour.

Furthermore, it is striking that, rather than embracing new buildings, much of their work is about renovating, or adding to, the existing setting. The orthodox approach to renovation dictates that the difference between old and new is displayed as overtly as possible. It is as though a sensitive relationship to what is already there is out of the question. It seems to be forbidden for architects to ‘continue to embellish’ an existing building. But this group adopts a very different approach: in their designs, the line between old and new is not sharply delineated, which as a result has a liberating effect on the designs and the architecture.

An additional part of the exhibition features the melancholy photos by the artist-architect Mark Pimlott (UK, CAN). Pimlott researches unexplored threads of tradition in 20th-century Belgian architecture. Belgian designers adhered only loosely to the principles of modern architecture. On the one hand, this was because the nature of commissions continued to be very conventional, and on the other because the building culture remained firmly rooted in traditional building, and in the artistic culture. Pimlott presents an ode to this idiosyncratic architecture. In the final room of the exhibition, there is the opportunity to listen to recent talks given by the architects.
The scenography of this exhibition, with its 3 rooms running into one another, is by Dirk Somers (Bovenbouw). He uses the scenography to create a variety of moods using colour, light, relationships and perspectives.

Pasticcio?
The title of the exhibition refers to the stone tower in the Sir John Soane Museum, the eponymous architect’s former home. In addition to its extensive collection of artworks and architectural fragments from various periods, a stone tower stands in the centre of the inner courtyard: the Pasticcio. This tower has recently been rebuilt and comprises a pile of stone architectural fragments, topped by a pinnacle designed by Soane. It is an illustration of how Soane himself interpreted classicism. The interiors and the collection have been a reference point for architects since the museum opened. Soane (1753-1837) is presented as the eighth participating architect.