Within the architectural context of Belgium, the work of Juliaan Lampens has long occupied a quiet yet undeniable position, making it a key destination in our Yintour Belgium Study Tour. Once regarded as a “forgotten architectural master” in the international arena, Lampens had already received the Belgian Architecture Award in 1995; however, it was not until the publication of Juliaan Lampens in 2010 that his work gradually entered contemporary international discourse.
Angelique Campens—an art and architectural historian, curator, and writer—has devoted her research to the intersection of sculpture and architecture, large-scale public sculpture, and sculptural (Brutalist) concrete. As one of the most important interlocutors and co-authors during Lampens’ later years, Campens offers a deeply informed and emotionally connected reading of this “reclusive master,” whose architecture appears silent yet is rich with vitality.
During the Yintour Belgium masterclass, we were honored to invite Campens to lead a thematic lecture. Tracing Lampens’ personal choices and historical context, and supported by extensive architectural examples, the course systematically examined how he developed a resolute and independent architectural stance while remaining distant from mainstream architectural discourse—one grounded in ways of living, natural surroundings, and the authenticity of materials.
In Lampens’ architectural practice, space is always organized around life itself. Through fully open plans, he dissolves conventional room divisions, allowing family members to form genuine relationships within a continuous, flowing space. A highly restrained yet deeply honest material palette—exposed concrete, wood, and glass—reveals the process of construction and the passage of time. By introducing light, water, and landscape into daily living, nature is no longer something to be observed, but something to be inhabited. Architecture here is not an expression of form, but a continuously unfolding state of life—quiet, resolute, and imbued with an inner vitality.
