Bovenbouw ArchitectuurLiving The Exotic Everyday

“Living the Exotic Everyday – Bovenbouw Architectuur” provides an insight into the multifaceted practice and rich frame of reference of the Antwerp-based architecture firm of the same name. The publication is published on the occasion of The Explorer’s House, an exhibition of the Flemish Architecture Institute that was presented at DeSingel in spring 2019. The exhibition and the book are complementary and autonomous, but all the richer for being read together. Bovenbouw’s distinctive design attitude guides the book, as do the projects presented in it. Intuitively, but also thoughtfully and with the necessary sense of humour, the authors develop an extensive system of concepts. Dirk Somers is assisted by Bart Verschaffel and Maarten Van Den Driessche in formulating the various fascinations of Bovenbouw. A rich arsenal of images from their own design empire provides a photographic interpretation that runs through the exhibition.

Architecture of the Superstructure. Living the Exotic Everyday is one of the winners of the 2019 DAM Architecture Book Prize.”