Exhibition USABLE / FOR USE at the Architecture Gallery

Service building of the bridge in Middelburg, 2004

Exhibition of the Dutch architectural studio BAR Architects from Rotterdam.

The studio's portfolio includes winning the international EUROPAN 7 competition, and in 2006 it was the winner of the Van Eyck Award organized by the Rotterdam NAi (Netherlands Architecture Institute) - a competition for the best project by authors under 40 years old.

The exhibition USABLE/ FOR USE presents 15 representative projects that document how architects seek the relationship between function and form. Inspired by the Dutch tradition, they draw on the architectural school of Aldo van Eyck, Herman Hertzberger, and Rem Koolhaas, addressing the programmatic content of architecture and searching for ways to harmonize beauty with functionality, usability, and sustainability in architecture. Some of the notable projects that have garnered public attention include the Stefanus cultural center and the extension of the former St. Stephen's Church in Utrecht. They are also the authors of the BAK building - the Utrecht center for contemporary art, where they incorporated a new element with a new function into a listed building. The service bridge building in Middelburg is also unmistakable, resembling a diamond perched on its tip, which mysteriously illuminates the waters of the Walcheren canal with green light at night.
The exhibition consists of 150 cubes that can be handled like a children's building set. All sides of these cubes are covered with colorful prints of projects and realizations by BAR studio. The building set allows for various composition options, and visitors can also participate in the game and arrange the exhibition according to their vision. The exhibition will be accompanied by a Czech-English catalog.
As a side event of the exhibition, a lecture will be held on Tuesday, April 17 at 3 PM in the auditorium of the Faculty of Architecture at VUT Brno. Mr. Joost Glisenaar and Mr. Klaas van der Molen will present the projects and realizations of their architectural office. The festive opening of the exhibition at the Architecture Gallery, at 5:30 PM, will also be attended by the Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Prague, His Excellency Mr. Jan Lucas van Hoorn.