The Obscure World of the Urbatect

Comics and architectural graphics join in this exhibition of the works of Belgian artist François Schuiten (1956) and French writer Benoît Peeters (1956). The action in the series of graphic novels titled Les Cités obscures (The Obscure Cities) takes place on Counter-Earth ― a mysterious planet that shares an orbit with Earth but which from our perspective is blocked by the Sun. The denizens of this imaginary civilization come face to face with problems familiar to us, such as restructuring urban space or heritage vs. desire for the new. The heroes and anti-heroes of this planet often get caught up in the crosswinds of architectural ideas and rigid systems.

Materials from the King Baudouin Foundation’s collection ― original drawings from La Frontiére Invisible and Brüsel and François Schuiten’s storyboards ― let us peek into the world of manual drawing. The exhibition also marks the world premiere of digitally coloured enlargements of pages from Fever in Urbicand.