Broader boundaries
18th International Architecture Exhibition – “The Laboratory of the Future”, Biennale di Venezia 2023

Participation in the 18th International Architecture Exhibition – “The Laboratory of the Future”, curated by Lesley Lokko for the Biennale di Venezia 2023.
The joint exhibition developed together with Carton123 architecten, presents the project ‘Kappaert’, a school campus located in Zwevegem, Belgium. The project for the Kappaert campus – an ensamble where several activities interact (a primary school for children on the autism spectrum, part-time arts education and holiday activities) – deals with the ambiguity of defining and dissolving boundaries, while creating safe spaces for children with different perceptive sensibilities.
This ambiguous approach towards boundaries will be translated into built form in the future campus, at various scales – the exhibition reflects this multiscalar design approach.
At a bigger scale, curtain silhouettes of the three main buildings create a scenography that acts as an anchoring point in the Arsenale, conceptually linking it to the landscape of the Kappaert campus, where the new architectural interventions act as visual reference points for children on their daily journey.
On an intermediate scale, models of fragments of the project envision the sequence of borders or thresholds children on the autism spectrum have to cross, on an daily basis. The models display a design approach that aims at expanding thresholds and blurring boundaries.
Similarly, the mock-up, scale 1:1, shows how the line between corridor and classroom can be expanded into a welcoming zone, a calm retreat space that allows for decompression. A line becomes a broader boundary.
The Kappaert project is the result of a close collaboration between multiple figures. The exhibition displays the collaborative process between the architects – with workshops on-site and long-distance communication , as well as the conversations with the future users of the campus, essential to fully understand the relationship between spatial design and the impact on mental stimuli.

Exhibition: 18th International Architecture Exhibition, Biennale di Venezia
Curator: Lesley Lokko
Location : Le Corderie dell’Arsenale, Venezia
Period: 20th May – 26th November 2023
Design team :
BDR bureau (Alberto Bottero, Simona Della Rocca) Alina Salahoru, Morena Gagliardi, Silvia Adamuccio, Rossella Altobelli
Carton123 (Joost Raes, Els Van Meerbeek) Sara De Sterck, Dorien Pelst, Jordy Van Osselaer, Pauline Vermeulen
Photography : (c)Stijn Bollaert