CP Caritas, Melle, Belgium. Photograph: Filip Dujardin.
architecten de vylder vinck taillieu—a dvvt—is the name under which Jan De Vylder, Inge Vinck, and Jo Taillieu share their united view on what architecture can possibly be. The point of departure for a dvvt is to embrace “making” in its broadest sense. It is only through an understanding of how to build something that architecture can play out its critical potential. As a response to what is expected of architecture today, a dvvt instead focuses on the construction of a banal and everyday reality, in which it finds opportunities to greatly surpass that which is expected.
Through their practice, a dvvt demonstrates how a critical attitude is not just a gesture, but, rather, a perspective on architecture to go beyond all requirements. This critical perspective is based on a sense of social responsibility as architects. The responsibility of the architect is to transcend given expectations and give architecture a chance at cultural production. The skillfulness of the architect—craftsmanship and critical insight—is crucial here. The skilled architect is able to build an everyday reality founded on cultural sustainability, safeguarding architecture from becoming a mere solution—the métier as the key to the future.
The Architecture Foundation, in association with the Barbican, presents Architecture on Stage – a programme of talks by the world's leading architects.
Les Ballet C de la B and LOD, Ghent. Photograph: Filip Dujardin.