Location: Brussels, Belgium
Date: 2020
Programme: Redesign of windows for a community centre / exhibition space
Client: Commune d’Ixelles
Status: Competition
Area: 200 m²
Budget: 80 000 €
Team: Traumnovelle (architects)

Light belongs to a universal metaphysics. Our relationship to light is fundamental, essential. It transcends cultures to speak directly to the heart, to the emotions. Yet, few places exist where the experience of light transcends the everyday and invites us to feel it in a physical way as it can occupy the place. Historically, the status of the Chapel of Boondael is of course that of a Catholic place of worship. Historically, the status of the Chapel of Boondael is, of course, that of a Catholic place of worship. The light that flows through the space through its stained glass windows is an evocation of the divine, often symbolised by the rays that illuminate the faithful. However, its current use as a place of art and culture raises questions about the role, both functional and symbolic, played by light. By relying on the ancestral strength of stained glass, which confers many of the qualities of the place, this proposal seeks on the one hand to offer the artistic space a palette of luminous alterations capable of entering into resonance with each work, each moment and each use.  On the other hand, it is also a question of making the Chapelle radiate - figuratively as well as literally - and thus affirm the role of art to accompany society in its questioning.

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Mark

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