The Act of Building

Publication 'the act of building' by Pauline Lefebvre and BC architects & studies, launched on the 16th International Architecture Exhibition of la Biennale di Venezia 2018.

From the first fieldtrips for the design of a library in Burundi to involving over 150 workshop participants in the construction of a public building in Belgium, the stories compiled in this book tell how BC architects & studies engage in acts of building. BC believes that, in order to have a positive impact on our society, architects need to intervene beyond the narrow definition of the professional who designs and controls the execution of buildings. Hence, BC ventures into material production, contracting, storytelling, knowledge transfer, community organization, which influence their design approach.
 
This book is the result of the work that Pauline Lefebvre (FNRS post-doctoral fellow) conducted at, with and about BC architects & studies. She researched their practice as part of her broader inquiry about architects’ increased involvement into construction (and) materials as a renewed form of political engagement in architecture. The book is designed as both a self-standing proposition and a complement to the participation of BC architects & studies in the 16th International Architecture Exhibition of the Biennale di Venezia 2018. The scenography at l’Arsenale shows four projects as acts of building, displaying artefacts that were used for the construction, namely tools, machines and formworks. The book is structured around a collection of stories that take these artefacts as points of departure.