10 1 10 0 XI - SKFANDRA

Museum for Broken Art, 1978 Stefaan Vervoort136an architect.’ 51 Later, in 1972, these very samespaces came to house the studio and home ofDeleu – T.O.P. office—again a claim put on theart institution, made official byDeleu’s ceremonial installationof flags leading up to the buildinga year earlier. 52 Then, afteralmost two decades of exhibitionsin various art institutionsacross the globe, the titles ofwhich Deleu describes as ‘elementsof a story,’ T.O.P. officecreated its own exhibition apparatusin 1988. 53 Named afterthe concept of Orban Planning, ORBINO (1988, 2002,2004, 2007, 2009) is a viewpoint-cum-exhibition space madefrom three stacked and two cantilevered containers, equippedwith a door, staircase, and two small windows on the back. 54On the front, a wall-to-wall glass curtain window opens uponto a vast panorama of the surroundings. In this highly specificspace, the artist-architect has regularlypresented the products of his self-commissionedresearch project The Unadapted City(1995-2006). On the walls, shelves, and evenon the ceiling, he staged51 ‘Luc Deleu saysfarewell to architecture’exhibition, Vacuumvoor nieuwe dimensies,Antwerp, Belgium, 1970;Johan Pas, Vacuum1970–1971 (Antwerp:Kunstgalerie RodeZeven, 2006), s.p.54 ORBINO, 1988.his speculative modelsand drawings, using theworld as a large visual backdrop. 55 WithORBINO Deleu thus hints at the beneficialdialectic offered to him by an exhibitionspace. A semi-secluded and pseudoautonomoussphere, the museum is theprimordial space which allows for architectural(self-)reflection, while concurrentlylinking those products of thoughtto the real world. T.O.P. office’s very own56 Only recently theartist-architect madea comment regardingDuchamp’s Boîteen-Valise(1935–41).Discussing his designfor a travelling DeStijl exhibition—anexpanding flightcaseholding paintings,objects, and furniture ofthe movement—Deleusignificantly claimedthat ‘T.O.P. office shoulddo something similaras well.’ Luc Deleu,interview with the author,20 December, 2011.52 Flagging of theCogels Osylei, Antwerp,Belgium, 1971.53 Lut Pil, ‘Luc Deleu:Postfuturismus?’,Kultuurleven no. 2 (1987).55 ORBINO with interiorpresentation of The UnadaptedCity (1995–2002) (1st realization),Nauerna, Amsterdam, theNetherlands, 2002.‘boîte-en-valise’, ORBINO is a transportableand easy-to-build materialization of Deleu’s institutionalidiosyncrasy. 56When it comes to museums, however, themost insistent of Deleu’s claims lies within asole image. In 1983, the artist-architect entereda polemical design for the competition for amuseum of architecture in Ghent. A collage,depicting the globe as a worldwide Museum ofArchitecture, confirms the aforementioned operativestatus of the institutional sphere to Deleu.It follows up on Le Corbusier’s statementthat ‘the true museum is the one that contains everything,’ yettransposes this argument onto an automatic process of overallinstitutionalization. In this respect, Museum of Architecturestrikes a chord with Deleu’s earlier Orban Planning Manifesto(1980). Since architecture ‘underwent an important change of57 Luc Deleu,‘Introduction’, in:Vrije Ruimte—EspaceLibre—Open Space(Antwerp: InternationaalCultureel Centrum[I.C.C.]/Ministerie vanNationale Opvoedingen Nederlandse Cultuur,1980) (exh. cat.), p. 3.function and meaning’ as did ‘painting (…) afterthe invention of photography,’ Orban Planningno longer condemns architecture to thestrict domain many still consider it to be. 57 Instead,it institutes architecture’slogic and conventions within abroad and interdisciplinary field.‘One could argue that theoretical architecture,which is not designed in direct relationshipto an assignment, contractor, real situation orexecution, is the ideal ivory tower for an autonomousarchitect to retreat to’, writes Deleu.‘There the artist-architect (…) creates paper,conceptual, or written architecture for an idealworld and utopic society.’ 58 Orban Planning, inother words, denotes the modus operandi resultingfrom architecture’s institutionalization.It is the expanded and experimental way ofworking that ensues from museological interdisciplinarity,secluding architecture from theworld while simultaneously reconnecting it toother domains of cultural production. In such arealm, architecture is both autonomous and socially embedded,both singular and multivalent. Within the age-old debateof art versus life, it chooses both sides, forging a work ethicsout of their oxymoronic merger. If Rem Koolhaas successfullyaffixes Dali’s irrationalism to Le Corbusier’s rationalism, asHal Foster has argued, Deleu mediates dialectically opposing59 Hal Foster, ‘Architectureand Empire’, in: Design andCrime (And Other Diatribes)(London and New York, NY:Verso Books, 2002), pp. 43–64,esp. 60.60 Deleu, The Ethics ofArchitecture, p. 6.58 ‘Men zou kunnenstellen dat detheoretische architectuur,die niet ontworpen isin een direct relatiemet een opdracht,opdrachtgever, reëlesituatie of uitvoering, deideale ivoren toren is omzich als een autonoomarchitect in terug tetrekken. Daar kan dearchitect-kunstenaar zichvrijblijvend bezighoudenmet het ontwerpen vantheoretisch en idealemodellen. Hij maaktpapieren, conceptuele ofgeschreven architectuurvoor een ideale werelden een utopischemaatschappij.’ Deleu,‘Over de belangrijkheiden onbelangrijkheid vande architectuur’, p. 8(author’s translation).avant-gardes of his own. 59 Merging 1960spluralism with 1980s autonomy in the ‘OrbanSpace’ of the museum, he there installsfor architecture a conditional, experimental,and above all self-critical sphere.Back in 1978, then, Museum for Broken Art marked the momentwhen Deleu contemplated the direction his practice washeading. After nearly a decade of architectural practice andwith his first gallery exhibition (Spectrum Gallery, Antwerp,Spring 1978) just behind him, it had become clear that the artinstitution could be of the utmost convenience to him. In thesphere of the arts, Deleu not only could present works as diverseas the Lego Constructions (1977–83) or The UnadaptedCity (1995–2006), but he could strengthen his ‘objective attitudetowards architecture’ as well. 60 The 1977confrontation with Matta-Clark contributedto this ‘objective attitude’, be it via the causality of historicaltrajectories or through a more Jungian zeitgeist. As opposedto the antagonist position taken up by the American artist—once portrayed as ‘the outlaw artist against good taste andMr. Right Architect’—Deleu never wanted to choose sides. Inand through the Turnhout project, he considered the conventionsand limits of his working terrain afresh, negotiating thelink between architecture and sculpture for the era to come.As such, if the modern art institution was proclaimed extinctOrban SpaceSculpture137

Orban Space MobilityFrom Le Havre to Panama (Gatun Locks)Journey Around the World in 72 Days (via the Antipodes ofMadrid / Weber); 3 April–14 June, 1999Luc Deleu152

Works XXVII–XXXIII Luc Deleu – T.O.P. officeXXXIOrban SpaceScale239238Orban Space: Panels, 2006–

Orban Space Manifesto 293Deleu, des fois!Aglaia Konrad292

Works Exhibitions Writings372‘Horta and After: 25 Masters of Modern Architecturein Belgium’, National Gallery, Prague, Czech Republic‘Mo(u)vements’, NICC/Koninklijk Museum voorSchone Kunsten, Antwerp, Belgium‘Recycling = another chance’, Sint-Lukasarchief,Brussels, Belgium2000–2001Luc Deleu, Theorie van de Architectuur, Hogeschoolvoor wetenschap voor wetenschap en kunst,Departement Architectuur Sint-Lucas Brussel-Ghent2001Kennedy BelvédèrePublic art proposal for the remodelingand refurbishment of the KennedyBelvédère viaduct, Nancy, FranceDrawings, photomontages and model2001/2004Old Harbor of AntwerpProposal for the reshuffling of the OldHarbor of Antwerp, Antwerp, BelgiumPhotomontage and print on dibond(2004)2001–02The Unadapted City: Vipcity House ofPrayerArchitectural designDrawings and models2001–02The Unadapted City: Vipcity NecropolisArchitectural designDrawings and models2001–03The Unadapted City: VipcityUrban designDrawings and models2001–05Vertigo at the ScheldtArchitectural remodeling of a privatedwellingDrawings, model and realizationTer Platen, Ghent, BelgiumCompetition for an artistic intervention forthe House of the Flemish Parliament,Brussels, BelgiumDrawingBrugge Vismijn BoogaardProposal to plant fruit trees at the site of thefish market in Bruges, BelgiumDrawingArchitecture competition design for an officebuilding, Rijswijk, the NetherlandsDrawings‘The Unadapted City’, Galerie Zwart Huis,Knokke, Belgium (solo)‘L’oeuvre collective’, Centre d’artcontemporain Chapelle Saint-Jacques,Saint–Gaudens, France (solo)‘La ville inadaptée’, Centre d’artcontemporain de Brétigny, Brétignysur-Orges,France (solo)‘Horta and After: 25 Masters of ModernArchitecture in Belgium’, Ruimte voorActuele Kunst, Mechelen, BelgiumGalerie Média, Neuchâtel, Switzerland2002SundialPublic art proposal fora sundial, Breda, theNetherlandsPhotomontageORBINOInstallation with containers; with interiorpresentation of The Unadapted City (1995–2002)(1st realization)Drawings and realizationNauerna, Amsterdam, the Netherlands2002–03Journey Around the World (Academical Upgrade2&3 Setenil over Auckland)5,6 km north-west of SETENIL, SPAIN, N 36° 52.683’ W 5° 14. 126’ 2003 June 19, 18H 47’ 54’’ to 18H50’ 16’’ UNIVERSAL TIME OVER MOUNT EDEN,AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND, S 36° 52. 683’ E 174°45. 874’ 2002 DECEMBER 20, 6H 47’ 54’’ to 6H 50’16’’ UNIVERSAL TIMEDoubled photo‘VIPCITY en De Onaangepaste Stad’, GalerieMercator, Antwerp, Belgium (solo)‘Antwerp & the world, Antwerp & the planet’,MuHKA, Antwerp, Belgium‘Luc Deleu & Niels Donckers’, Cultureel Centrum,Strombeek, Belgium‘Van IJ tot Zee—Van Halfweg tot Nauerna’,Stichting Kunst en Cultuur Noord-Holland,Noorzeekanaalregio, the Netherlands‘Le Petit Cabinet d’un Amateur de Ruines’, Orion ArtGallery, Oostend, BelgiumABC, Haarlem, the NetherlandsLuc Deleu and Hans Theys, Urbi et Orbi: DeOnaangepaste Stad, Ghent: Ludion, 2002Luc Deleu, EU, 6 August, 2002 (global urbanconcept for the European Quarter in Brussels,motivation of candidacy; unpublished)2003Urbi et OrbiPoster for Utopia Station, 50th VeniceBiennale, Venice, ItalyPosterMuseum of Fine Arts (KMSK)Architecture competition design for amaster plan for the Royal Museum of FineArts (KMSK), Antwerp, BelgiumDrawingsMontyplanCover images for the monthly agendaand newsletter of the Monty Theater,Antwerp, BelgiumPhotomontages and print2003/2004Untitled (windmill-grid-park)Proposal for a windmill-grid-park for theAntwerp Harbor, BelgiumDrawing and print on dibond (2004)Orban Space T.O.P. office3732000 –20032001–03ElysiumExecutive architect of the constructionof an apartment building by the lateAlfons HoppenbrouwersGenk, Belgium2001–03MilleniumExecutive architect of the constructionof an apartment building by the lateAlfons HoppenbrouwersGenk, BelgiumGielen-Briers HouseArchitectural remodeling of aprivate dwellingDrawings and realizationGenk, BelgiumMasson HouseSelf-realized architecturalremodeling of privatedwelling after drawing by LucDeleu on photographDrawing on photograph andrealizationAntwerp, BelgiumContainer TrianglesInstallation with containersMiddelburg, the NetherlandsSpeybankInstallation with containers (exhibitionensemble of 5 container installations)Middelheim Open Air Museum, Antwerp,Belgium

Works I–VIIIOrban SpaceImitationLuc Deleu – T.O.P. officeWouter Davidts464746 MACBA Piece, Barcelona, Spain, 1997