Architects at Play

Architects at Play is the result of a research process into play and the imagination, built experiments and mythological narratives. The exhibition is essentially centred on the idea of “creating worlds.“ It attempts to bring together two characters: the architect and the child.

Children’s games have always been a breeding ground for the invention of worlds. Likewise, architects also imagine new worlds. These worlds and the mechanisms of invention they rely upon constitute the core of the exhibition, which touches on themes as varied as childhood and education, urban planning, public space, history, architecture, art and creativity—in order to trace the history of imaginary as well as imagined worlds. 

Each one of us is a playful architect. From the solitary hut to the cosmopolitan ark, we build worlds we inhabit or co-inhabit. The world of play is located in the mysterious interval that connects our subjectivities to external reality. It sometimes happens that architectures crystallize in this ephemeral space, becoming for a while the stage of our lives, the horizon of our habits. This power of imagination is at the heart of the curatorial system in which childhood playgrounds and those of architects, artists and designers meet.

Featuring works by
51N4E / 360° Architects / AgwA / AHA / Aida Takefuji / Akarova / Alberto Sartoris / Aldo Rossi / Aldo Van Eyck / Alfred Ledent / Alice, Anton, Blixa, Nicolas, Octave, Valentine / Amaldi & Neder / Andrew Kovacs / Anne Van Loo / Archizoom Associati / Art Nowo (Heinz Klein, Georg Leidig) / Atelier De Visscher & Vincentelli et Jozef Legrand / BAUKUNST / Bruno Munari / BRUSK / BUUR / Camille Mezi / Cedric Price / CENTRAL / Charles Aubertin / Charles Dominique Joseph Eisen / Charles Vandenhove / Clara Leverd / Claude-Nicolas Ledoux / Constant / David Hockney / DVVT / Edmond Alexandre Petitot / Edward Blore / Elena Gileva / Enzo Mari / Fala Atelier / Fischli/Weiss / Florent Chavouet / Gaiking / Georges de Hens / Georges-Eric Lantair / Giannetta Ottilia Fantoni Modena / Gijs Van Vaerenbergh / Gio Ponti / Groupe Alpha / Group Ludic / Gru.a Architetos / Gustave Herbosch / Guy Debord / Haus Rucker co / Hans Hollein / Heinz Klein, Georg Leidig / Henry Lacoste / Isamu Noguchi / James Gowan / Jean Aubert / Jean-Francois Pirson & Jean-Pierre Caumiant / Jean-Jules Eggericx & Louis Van der Swaelmen / Jean Nicolas Louis Durand / Jef Degryse / Ferdinand Joachim & Philippe Rotthier/Jonathan De Pas, Donato d’Urbino & Paolo Lomazzi/John Hejduk/Julien Schiellemans / Karbon’ / Karel Verhoeven / Kolman Boye Architects / Label / Laura Bouyard / Laurent Busine / Léon Krier / L’Escaut / Lieven De Cauter / Louis Herman De Koninck / LPPL and åbäke / Luca Merlini / Lucien De Vestel / Luc Van Malderen / Madelon Vriesendorp & Charlie Koolhaas / Marc Cuisinier / Marcel Gossé / Maria Montessori / Martine Canneel / Maurice Culot & La Cambre / Menes Farouk / NoAarchitecten / Office Kersten Geers David Van Severen / Office for Metropolian Architecture / Rem Koolhaas / Oscar Schlemmer / Paul Emile Vincent / Paul Mignot / Peter Märkli / Pierre Antoine / Pierre Hebbelinck / Pinaffo & Pluvinage / Raphaël Zarka / Renaat Braem / René Pechère / Richard Buckminster Fuller / Robbrecht en Daem / Ryan Gander / Sarah Pschorn / Stefano Graziani / Studio Ossidiana / Suède 36 / Takahashi Ippei / Thomas Raynaud / Vers-A / Victor Bourgeois / Vinh Linh & Antoine Devaux / Willy Kessels / Wolfgang Bregentzer