Past Present Future II: Robbrecht en Daem

John Hill

25. June 2019

Paul Robbrecht, Hilde Daem, and Johannes Robbrecht (Photos: Maarten Vanden Abeele, courtesy of Robbrecht en Daem)

Itinerant Office's second edition of its "Past, Present, Future: about being an architect yesterday, today and beyond" project continues with an interview with architects Hilde Daem and Paul Robbrecht, founders of Ghent, Belgium's Robbrecht en Daem architecten.

Boekentoren - University Library, Ghent, Belgium, 2007-ongoing (Photo: Walter Vorjohann)

Robbrecht en Daem architecten was founded by Paul Robbrecht and Hilde Daem in 1975, when they were in their mid-20s (Johannes Robbrecht joined in 2002 and was made partner ten years later). Daem recounts in the "Past" clip the difficulties she faced in being perceived as an equal, both in school and as a partner in an architecture firm. Robbrecht en Daem has been growing since the mid-1990s and has at "Present" around 40 employees carrying out increasingly complex projects such as the university library in Ghent. "Think longterm" is the main advice Daem has for architects, users, and politicians for the "Future," particularly in regards to energy use and materials.

Watch the interviews below or on Itinerant Office's Vimeo page.