In October 1971, the city of Blankenberge commissioned Juliaan Lampens to design a tourist information centre. The site was Koning Leopold III Square, beside the railway station, a busy junction for cars, buses and trams. By August 1972, Lampens’ final design had been approved and a building permit issued. A year and a half later, however, the city council cancelled the project due to a lack of funds.
This exhibition presents a series of small-format drawings. They reveal Lampens’ search for a sculptural expression for the building, culminating in a refined, sculptural roof structure. The solid roof shelters a transparent visitor centre containing a reception area, a meeting room and offices. The ground-floor plan, also on display, is key to understanding the other drawings. At its centre, the substantial base of the roof structure is visible. The plan also shows the relationship between the interior of the reception hall—shown in green—and the covered outdoor space.
The exhibition highlighted the importance of detail in creating architecture and how, through their close interplay, neither can exist without the other. Detail is thus understood as a design strategy rather than a technical problem. A building’s detailing is what gives it quality.