25 May 2016 – After twenty years, a new monograph on the work of my Flemish colleagues De Smet Vermeulen Architects is now available. Critical texts from independent authors and a detailed discussion of seven projects, by way of texts, drawings and photographs, provide an insight into their practice. I contributed with a text which tries to locate the oeuvre within the contemporary debate on craftsmanship, which is the theme of the Belgian pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2016. With an emphasis on recent projects, this new publication illustrates the evolution of Henk De Smet and Paul Vermeulen’s work. It also reveals how the context in which architecture is made has changed significantly over the last decades. I am suggesting that this debate is not yet over- and that it should be conducted on the socioeconomic reality in which physical oeuvres develop.

The book will be presented during the event Bravoure: contributions from Flanders on 27 May at the International Architecture Biennale in Venice. Quart Verlag has published the book. The book is available in English/German and in French/Dutch.