Waiting rooms for architecture

What precedes architecture? Architect Malgorzata Maria Olchowska investigates how personal and collective memories influence our view of the built environment. At the invitation of the Flemish Architecture Institute, her work enters into a dialogue with the collection of the Red Star Line Museum. For architect Malgorzata Maria Olchowska, houses, streets and squares have different layers of meaning. The structures you see tell something about the past and the future of a city. The way we view those places changes greatly over time and often depends on the zeitgeist.

With her architectural interventions, Olchowska challenges museum practice. At the same time, she enters into a dialogue with the museum's collection. She seeks connections with places where the history of the Red Star Line buildings is most tangible. In the large warehouse, where passengers left their luggage for safekeeping, you will discover numerous works of art that interact with the museum collection. Historical photos make a connection with the place where you are today ('you are here'), while the model series “ Disappeared City” rather appeals to your imagination. The movie “I am not going to cry”shows luggage or cargo in the form of construction elements. They symbolize the endless tearing down and rebuilding of European cities. Photos and postcards, made or sent by emigrants, strikingly resemble Olchowska's prints. In her constructed landscapes, every viewer recognizes new elements with his own memories. The sculpture by the Syrian refugee Saïf Lama, dialogues with the black and white photographs of ships and the expo's skeleton construction. Time becomes tangible in this way. Experience the stratification of the buildings and cities through the generations that courageously built, waiting for what follows.