Willy Van der Meeren: MASS

Zusatztext

Rooted in a firm socialist credo, Willy Van Der Meeren (1923-2002) championed an architecture for the massesbuilt logically, with as little material as possible, and endowed with the necessary elegance to make it through the day. Van Der Meeren did not preconceive architecture, nor did he postproduce it. He thought, acted, and built in the now, at a scale of 1:1. His architecturesalmost without exceptionare clear prototypes, awaiting mass production. For more than five decades, Van Der Meeren advocated the intrinsic merger of architecture and the building industry. However, his ideal for line-manufactured and affordable housing never saw the light of day. Perhaps Van der Meeren's democratic furniture collection, produced for TUBAX between 1943 and 1955 when he was emerging as an architect, best approximates his social dream. However, his furniture pieceslike his architectureare now highly sought-after objects, eventuating in the exact opposite of his quest for a society that would be open to all. MASS wishes to celebrate Van der Meerens uncompromising architectural stance (a rarity), while critically scrutinizing the idea that architecture is unable, perhaps, to have an impact on a larger scale.

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