Belgian Pavilion for the Venice Biennale, 2008

In the Belgian pavilion for the 2008 Venice Biennial the existing pavilion is enclosed by a seven-metre high wall, and thus separated from the predominant context of the architecture biennial. The floor of both the existing pavilion and the new ‘garden’ is covered with a layer of confetti. Chairs are spread here and there around the new pavilion. The existing awning under the skylights of the pavilion was removed so that sunlight streams directly in. Visitors walk through between the two layers of the outer wall and enter the original pavilion through a side entrance, disorienting them before their experience of a new aggregate of spaces. In the new walled garden of the pavilion one can sit in the sun or under the shade of trees. The new Belgian pavilion frames and displays the original pavilion, a piece of architecture that has been constantly adapted and transformed over the years.