131 - MAD

Dirty White Cube

Since a new building would not have contributed any significant added value, it was decided to keep all the existing buildings, with their deficiencies. Built over a period of sixty years, they were never meant to form a whole. The project then emerged as an 'assisted ready-made': through strategic demolitions and the addition of a few elements, the ill-conceived, the ill-fitting existing buildings are being rehabilitated.

The intention of V+ and Rotor is not to distinguish between old and new. The spaces are combined to create a rich array of spatial typologies, something which a new construction would never have been able to offer.

This idea is also applied in the clever finishings: the palette of 'whites' helps give a sense of unity to the building, almost giving the illusion of a full-scale model. At the same time, the use of different materials questions and complexifies the status of the white cube, since the different materials each have their own specificity. Realism, a certain didacticism, pragmatism and domesticity characterize this project. Between the lines, a provocative reference to the norms of fashion and architecture.

2011 – 2017

Architects

V+ (in collaboration for the design with Rotor)

Location

Brussels (BE)

Status

Built

Partners

Ecorce (peb+ts) - Greisch (st) - Daidalos Peutz (ac) - Bouwtechniek

Program

Cultural center for fashion and design, managed by non-profit organization MAD, including exhibition and events spaces, offices, a cafeteria, studios for artists in residence

Credits

V+/ Maxime Delvaux

Surface

3 000m²

Budget

4 680 000 eur

Publications

  • MAD Bruselas: Poema de principios, Descubrir el arte, 10/17 (E)

  • A+, avril 2017

  • a+t, Domus, Architectuurboek Vlaanderen 17, Bruzz and more ...