Les Ballets C de la B en LOD Belgium : Architecture

Production Studios for Contemporary Dance Company, Ghent 2008 Jan De Vylder architecten LES BALLETS C DE LA B & LOD At the Bijloke site in Ghent, Jan De Vylder architecten constructed a production house for dance company Les Ballets C de la B and musical theatre LOD. photographs: Filip dujardin/OWI The result is two alienating constructions back to back; as if they have been pushed apart, yet still contemplate one another through unusual viewing holes. At first, the architects were asked to design a single building with six theatre venues. After reconsidering the entire project, they ended up with three buildings with one theatre venue each. At this moment, two have been built, and the third building obtained a new function as foyer. Departing from the characteristics of the site, which has a fragmented ground plan with all sorts of buildings and rest rooms, in between which gardens have grown organically, it seemed logical to design two pavilions instead of a single large building. By designing two almost identical buildings, in a twisted perspective, the architects create confusion and merger at the same time, which results in interesting dynamics. Quite remarkable in the building are the façades on end which, unlike the heart of the building, are completely transparent. Whereas the rest of the building is wrapped in grey slate, from which windows protrude as guard posts, the two main façades are stately transparent towers referring to glass curtain wall architecture However, the glass façade does not only reveal the function of the building but also its construction. The result actually is a poetic combination of building materials, window settings, staircases and concrete floors with only a glass curtain separating private from public. The colour combinations, the windows and the matching awnings, the removed slates on the exterior façades, along which plants will grow, did not origin from purely aesthetic consideration. They are rather the result of stringent parameters such as construction and budget. Still, you cannot deny that it has become the architects' style characteristic.