Exploring Belgian architecture with The Cass News from the School of Art, Architecture and Design

Belgian architecture season launches at The Cass with an illustration exhibition highlighting the country’s diverse collection of contemporary architecture.

Inventories #2 is an exhibition presenting comics and illustrations that showcase the best in contemporary Belgian architecture. Organised by Wallonia Brussels Architecture, the exhibition runs from 6 to 27 April at The Cass Bank Gallery and presents 28 projects by 25 illustrators.

The exhibition showcases selected works from the third volume of Belgian publication Inventaires. The publication focuses on contemporary Belgian Architecture and was founded in 2010 by the editors and curators of the exhibition, Xavier Lelio and Anne Sophie Nottebaert of Brussels-based architectural practice Coton Lelion Nottebaert. The book is available online and from the nearby Whitechapel Gallery bookshop.

Comics are a hallmark of Belgian culture and artists regularly use this medium to respond to architecture. In the exhibition, comic strips by Belgian artists explore the narrative of each selected building and are presented next to architectural plans by the architects. These works display the visual and experiential relationship between people and the built environment.

Inventories #2 presents an up to date survey on architectural developments within Wallonia and Brussels by partnering illustration with architecture. The experimental approach of the exhibition aligns with The Cass’s dedication to cross-disciplinary arts education.

As part of this collaboration between The Cass and Wallonia-Brussels Architecture, an inaugural lecture will take place on 6 April on the theme of Urban Density by William Mann at 6.30pm in CE 1-16.

Inventories #2 is part of a wider cultural programme at The Cass entitled, What About Belgian Architecture?. The season aims to promote Wallonia-Brussels architecture and involves a series of lectures and exhibitions that runs from April-October 2017.

Please note that the exhibition will be closed during the Easter break from 13 to 17 April inclusive.

Image: Left: Mundaneum by Coton_Lelion_Nottebaert © Joseph Falzon, Right: Pôle Marexhe by ARJM architecture © Florent Grouazel.