This is the long-awaited overview of the recent works of architect Stéphane Beel. As productive and versatile an architect as Stéphane Beel is, architectural criticism and reception of his work are never far behind – new works are followed almost immediately by new words. This combination of work and word has made Stéphane Beel into one of the most successful Belgian architects of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. From his oeuvre, eighteen projects have been selected that have never before appeared detail in a book. Each is described and commented on by one of the contributing authors. The book begins with an extensive introductory interview with the architect himself, in which – in eight thematic sections – the basic features of Beel’s approach are discussed. The interview is entitled An Intense Order, which at once reflects the structure and the concept of this book: without putting forward a single, all-embracing interpretative system, it systematically endeavours to offer a variety of opportunities for capturing the spark that invariably lights up the work of Stéphane Beel.

Text in English and Dutch.

Over the centuries, craftsmen have applied their creativity and technical skills to exploit the generous resources of Nature to marvellous effect. In this case they have employed seeds, leaves, flowers and fibres from the plant world, along with feathers, plain or iridescent shells, teeth, and fur from the animal kingdom to fashion objects of astonishing beauty, enhanced with the addition of elements in iron, copper, silver, and gold. Such materials have always provided the basis for magnificent headdresses of all varieties, including hats, caps, crowns, and headbands. In time, as the conditions of trade and pilgrimage routes improved, rare materials and manufactured products spread all over the globe, as well as new knowledge, techniques, and methods of fabrication. Each class of individual sported a distinct type of headdress: initiates and adults, hunters and warriors, religious dignitaries and healers, rulers and notables; unmarried girls, married women, and young mothers. In each case the author explains their opulence and symbolism to the reader.

This book is a complete overview of all thirty Belgian abbey beers. Where is the rich patrimony of Belgian abbey beers rooted? What are the remarkable stories about this authentic, labour-intensive product. In which way are Trappist beers different from the others? In Belgian Trappist and Abbey Beers, Jef Van den Steen unravels the different stages in the production process of the beers and talks very passionately about the origin and development of the various breweries within the walls or under the license of the abbey. Each brewery is presented with practical information, different types of beer, and the author always includes tips for tourists.

Phase 3 of digitalisation has started. A phase of artificial intelligence has revolutionised the buying behavior of customers: collecting information, the buying process and customer service have changed dramatically. This book explains the impact of the ‘internet of things’, virtual assistants, bots and client data. But first of all this is a book about customers. In a world of automatisation the most important question remains: how can I be customer-oriented? “Steven is a much asked for keynote speaker for our events, always a highlight. He has a unique and authentic style: with a combination of academic depth and well-built cases he spices up his presentations with a tremendous amount of humor.” – Anthony Belpaire, Google Website: stevenvanbelleghem.com Youtube: StevenVanBelleghem/videos Twitter: @StevenVBe

The unique selection of almost 300 paintings and drawings collected in The Realism of It shows the evolution of artist Rik Vermeersch and unveils an amazing coherence throughout his work. His earlier gestural paintings later make room for more objective work, the so-called ‘digital paintings’, nudes in particular. With texts by Paul Depondt and Matthijs Van Dijk.

“‘The marvellous is always beautiful,’ reads a sign on the wall of the Scottish National Museum of Modern Art. This stirring slogan, by Andre Breton, from his Manifesto of Surrealism, sets the tone for this fascinating, mind expanding exhibition.” – BBC Arts “Outstanding… The finest spread of surrealist art – paintings and objects – to be seen in Britain since the momentous Surreal Things: Surrealism and Design show at the V&A in 2007.” – Sunday Times

This book brings together over 160 of the finest surrealist artworks by legendary artists including Salvador Dalí, Max Ernst, René Magritte, Joan Miró and Man Ray. The works hail from the four renowned and extraordinary private collections of Edward James, Roland Penrose, Gabrielle Keiller and Ulla and Heiner Pietzsch, and together offer a superb overview of surrealist art. Ten essays explore the different origins, historical contexts and creative urges behind these collections. Artworks, perhaps more than anything else that one can acquire, are objects of desire and surrealist artworks even more so. The sheer quality of the works acquired (and, in the case of the Pietzsches, still being acquired) is astonishing and, while passionate about their private visions, all the collectors have been mindful of contributing something to the public good. The collections complement each other to an extraordinary degree and allow us to follow some of the artists’ careers from beginning to end. By uniting them, exciting new juxtapositions emerge along with a fuller and richer picture of the surrealist movement as a whole.

In Western culture, from an early age we are ingrained with the notion that weight in building construction equals strength as evinced even in children’s stories such as the ‘The Three Little Pigs’. This idea of the relative strength of mass pervades our culture as a fundamental truth, but heavy materials are not intrinsically stronger than lighter ones. While time will be needed to remove the biases that we carry in our cultural DNA, our perception of strength has begun to shift. If we look at the historical evolution of architecture – from the massive pyramids of Egypt to the framed structures of Greek and Roman construction, to the lighter Gothic vaulting and eventually modern architecture of the twentieth century – we see a continuous, almost linear progression from solid mass construction to diaphanous skins of glass and steel. This is our historic journey from mass to membrane.

Hilde Van de Walle (b.1957) is a multi-disciplinary artist. In a period of 30 years she created a vast and highly appreciated oeuvre consisting of graphic art, paintings, ceramics and monumental bronzes. She often explores the mystery behind the human façade. As an artist she wants to achieve maximum expression with a minimal number of visual clues. Her images are actions frozen in time. It is the task of the spectator to fill in the preceding action or imagine the continuation of the movement. Her imagery is wilful; the artist dislocates normal anatomy and forces it into a new shape. Parts of the body are deliberately eliminated to come to the purest expression. The subdued charisma of the figures stimulates a dialogue with the environment and the spectator. The residual space between the images is no blank space, but acts as a sound box that amplifies the expression. Capturing the intangible in an image remains Hilde’s passionate ambition. Text in English and Dutch.

For 35 years floral design company Oogenlust has been creating stunning floral compositions and interior designs inspired by the natural world. The entire spectrum of emotions is visited in beautiful creations that excite the senses and make those special moments in life simply unforgettable. Oogenlust is driven by a passion for nature and the changing seasons. Its strength lies in the meticulous use of all the materials that nature offers. But it is the sheer love for the craft of flower arranging so evident in every Oogenlust design that makes them so distinctive, original and captivating. Text in English and Dutch.

How much longer do you want to put it off? How long can you manage your organisation, your team or your life without making some fundamental change? Above all, how long can you avoid being overtaken by others because you stick to your method and your comfort zone? Our society is changing and crying out for a new model. We are living in a digital age where everyone and everything is connected, where competition no longer comes from the sector, and customers, users and citizens are in the driver’s seat. Data are gold and sharing is the new having. The digital age requires a new approach and a new model. This book beckons you to dare – dare to help build a different business world, with a balance between short and long term results, but just as much to help build a different society through personal choices, a society that is ready for the next generation.

The dahlia, a flower that was once thought of as old-fashioned, has surged in popularity over the past few years due to the development of new varieties and an uptick in appreciation from Royals and celebrities. They appear in a broad spectrum of beautiful colours and eccentric shapes, and thanks to their long flowering time they are garden crop favourites. This inspirational book explores every aspect of the dahlia from its history to its sustainable cultivation.

Freedom, simplicity and togetherness: that’s what life is all about according to happy campers Els Sirejacob and Bram Debaenst. Those values are the reason why they love the camper van life so much; they’re also qualities you’ll recognise in Els and Bram’s work as a food stylist and food photographer.

Camper Food & Stories is the result of Els and Bram’s shared passion for camper van travelling and slow cooking. It’s an ode to life on the road as well as to good, pure and flavourful food.

With this book you’ll travel from the Black Forest to Denmark and from Cornwall to the Balkans. You’ll discover the most beautiful unspoilt places in Belgium and the Netherlands, and you’ll be inspired by the wonderful, dreamy travel photos and personal stories.

This book is of course also about food. The recipes in it honour the local cuisine and products of each destination. The featured dishes are uncomplicated yet bursting with flavour, and made from fresh, local ingredients – like fire-baked veggies with yoghurt and mint, heart-warming slow-cooked stews, barbecued shellfish or easy and healthy breakfasts. Of course, these camper recipes are perfect for cooking at home too, with the added bonus of feeling like you’re on vacation.

The genesis, development and life-long occupation of the McIntyre house, built in 1972 as part of a multiple-dwelling subdivision, provides possible answers to some very pressing contemporary design questions. How might one live near the city and be respectful of nature? How might efficiently built dwellings also be spacious and dense site occupation still allow for privacy? This history is recounted through text augmented by photographs and site diagrams, house sections and plans. They reveal a modern architecture on the west coast that resulted from an interplay of both the physicality of the land and a culturally imbued landscape.

Ulrich Wüst (*1949) trained as an urban planner and began photographing East German cities in the late 1970s. Today, his early work is widely recognised as a subtly formulated critique of social conditions in the GDR and one of the most important photographic records of the socialist state. Since the 1990s, he has expanded his practice to focus on the memory landscape of reunified Germany and the transformations of both city and countryside, particularly the villages and farming culture of Uckermark and other rural regions. In this first monograph on Wüst, Van Zante provides a context for his work in American and German urban photography and photography of place. Over 200 photographs are published here, many for the first time, including a selection of Wüst’s distinctive leporellos of titled series. An interview with the photographer and an exhibition and publishing history are included.

Gary Van Zante is curator of the photography, design and architecture collections at the MIT Museum, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA

This direct, interactive approach to art – and to the world – promotes self-exploration, self-discovery, and self-expression. As it introduces basic artistic concepts, styles, and techniques, it also provides loads of fun. For children who want to know more about the artists whose works appear in the book, biographies are provided at the end, along with suggestions for further reading and an international list of museums where each artists works can be seen. As they begin to understand the multitude of ways that artists see, children will deepen their appreciation of art, the world around them, and, most importantly, their own unique visions.

“Belgicum is brilliant. It’s an epitaph for a country that disappeared before Vanfleteren’s eyes, like a sand castle in the breaking waves.” – Eric Min in De Morgen

Belgicum is a photo project about Belgium. It is not an objective representation of a country but rather a subjective photographical document in black and white. It’s a journey of exploration into a small country in the heart of Europe, at the turn of the centuries.

More than fifteen years Vanfleteren has wandered through and hunted in the ‘Belgicum’ territories, guided by emotion and by the love for his homeland. He made a journey through a scarred land, in search of the irretrievable identity of a country with the melancholic soul of an old nation.

Over the past ten years, over 11,000 copies were sold of this international bestseller. Belgicum grew out to be a reference work in the Belgian history of photography. On the occasion of the tenth birthday of this cult book, it was reprinted.

With text by David Van Reybrouck.

Text in English, French and Dutch.

On September 29 and 30 1941 more than 33,000 Jewish men, women, and children were murdered in Babyn Yar, a gorge near Kiev. This event constituted the largest single massacre perpetrated by German troops against Jews during World War II.

In commemoration, a synagogue designed in the shape of a book will open on the same site in 2021. When opened, the book building’s inner space and its furnishings unfold. This impressive movable structure was designed by Manuel Herz, whose studio runs offices in Basel and Cologne. This book for the first time shows the Babyn Yar synagogue captured in photographs by celebrated architectural photographer Iwan Baan, as well as through plans and model photos.

Yet the core part of the book tells the story of the Jewish people and of Judaism through the medium of space: the Jewish concept of space from biblical times to the present. Space as a leitmotif is understood in broad terms here: territorially, architecturally, psychologically, theologically, intellectually, as well as pertaining to the persecution of the Jewish people. Rather than in an abstract treatise, this story is told through 135 brief and engaging texts by Robert Jan van Pelt, a leading Holocaust researcher and professor of architecture. Each of these reflections is illustrated with drawings and watercolours by New York-based artist Mark Podwal, who is known for his illustration of Elie Wiesel’s works.

Haute Couture Architecture: The Art of Living Without Walls by Anneke van Waesberghe is so much more than a book about tented green building architecture. The book is part design manifesto, part personal diary, and part manual for future sustainable living. One in which rampant consumerism has been replaced by a more thoughtful design from the excesses of modern times to a new state of being for living sustainably and in harmony with the rhythms of the planet. It is the tale of one woman’s odyssey living alone in the jungle finding true meaning in life and manifesting its beauty into a way of sustainable living that may set a blueprint for our future existence on Earth. The author leads readers to encounter a new paradigm by showing the luxury of simplicity and the beauty of small things.

With our consumer way of living and doing things and how the world is evolving, the pace we follow as consumers rather than humans has become outdated and is not the way to go forward. We cannot solve new problems that follow our destructive actions; we have to shift our thinking from ‘me’ to ‘we’. Haute Couture architecture respects artisans, hand-made goods, self-sufficiency, and caring for nature. Being close to nature is a lifestyle of forward-thinking outside the box and is a natural means to discovering ourselves.

Ultimately Haute Couture Architecture: The Art of Living Without Walls bridges the gap between nature and architecture.

Official catalogue of the eponymous exhibition curated by Bovenbouw Architectuur.

How do city and architecture flourish together? This question is central to the three‐dimensional capriccio that displays a fictional Flemish urban environment. Over time, the informal city in Flanders and Brussels has developed a unique relationship with its architecture. This staged urban landscape reveals how historical layers, morphological peculiarities and unforeseen collisions are an endless source of energy for contemporary architectural production. Published on the occasion of the exhibition Composite Presence curated by Bovenbouw Architectuur in the Belgian Pavilion at the Biennale di Architettura 2021 in Venice, Italy. The exhibition and publication are a production of the Flanders Architecture Institute on behalf of the Flemish Minister for Culture, Jan Jambon.

With texts by Sofie De Caigny, Irina Davidovici, Maarten Van Den Driessche, André Loeckx, Leo Van Broeck, Christian Rapp, Kristiaan Borret, Peter Vanden Abeele, Stefan Devoldere, Edith Wouters, Katrien Embrechts, Paul Vermeulen.

Supercars is a celebration of the world’s most beautiful and iconic motorcars, ranging from icons like the Ferrari F40 to modern classics such as the Bugatti Veyron. Belgian photographer Rudolf van der Ven captures the essence of each car in this stunning 224-page coffee table book through his photography and unique stories. Foreword by Tim ‘Shmee150’ Burton.