Name: Romain Touron
Track: Architecture
Studio: Interiors Buildings Cities
Year: 2025 / MSc 3/4
Type: Graduation Project
Tutors: Sam de Vocht, Matthijs Klooster, Amy Thomas, Daniel Rosbottom, Jurjen Zeinstra, Susanne Pietsch
Description:
This project responds to the miscarried 2021 competition for a new architecture and archive center for the Vlaams Architectuurinstituut. Unlike the original plan to install it in a century old church in Antwerp, this project reuses existing infrastructures - both spatial and institutional - by embedding the archive within deSingel, where the VAi already operates. Through a strategic reuse and densification of the campus, the project adds a new archive wing and reconnects fragmented circulation paths. Rammed earth is introduced alongside existing concrete walls to create a massive yet breathable environment for the archive. The proposal forms a dialogue between old and new, between modernity and present stakes.