The Berlage Sessions: On Something Completely Different

On Something Completely different

This talk will present Christophe Van Gerrewey’s Something Completely Different: Architecture in Belgium, a recent book exploring the essence of architecture through the lens of Belgian design since the country's founding in 1830. This small European nation serves as a microcosm for examining broader spatial issues and architectural practices that reflect key themes in modern Western society.

The book comprises seven comprehensive essays that analyze Belgian architects' work over the past two centuries, focusing on political developments, social disparities, aesthetic considerations, urban planning, transportation, infrastructure, order and chaos, and cultural and ecological factors. Through this exploration, Van Gerrewey presents a literary text that reveals both the strengths and limitations of architectural practice.

Something Completely Different takes an innovative approach by embracing Belgian stereotypes, such as Baudelaire's description of Belgian monuments as "counterfeits of France," and employing a reflective, essay-like writing style. This unique perspective ultimately reveals that the true subject is not Belgium itself, but the fundamental nature of architecture, offering readers a fresh and thought-provoking examination of the field.

About Christophe Van Gerrewey

Christophe Van Gerrewey is a writer and critic. In his writings, architecture is considered as a source of comprehensive and integrated knowledge that pertains to diverse disciplines, a way of looking at, and of understanding, many aspects of the world we live in. He trained as an architect-engineer at Ghent University and as a literary theorist at KU Leuven. Along with three novels, his books include Something Completely Different: Architecture in Belgium and OMA/Rem Koolhaas: A Critical Reader from Delirious New York to S,M,L,XL. A co-editor of architecture journal OASE, and of art and culture journal De Witte Raaf, he taught architecture theory at EPFL from 2015 to 2024.

About the Berlage Sessions

The Berlage Sessions is a thematic seven-part seminar series focusing on scholarly research and critical approaches to the history and theory of architecture and urban design. This autumn's series, entitled "Post, Publish, or Perish‽" is exploring how architects engage with various publication forms to disseminate their ideas, promote theirs and others work, engage with broader societal design questions, and influence and establish discourse.