The vehicle

Kasane Nogawa

And we’re looking for a platform to do just that. So here’s a call to all budding creators, for…

Something mobile. Something recognisable. Something that, with just one or two people, can set a whole procession in motion. Something that brings people together. Something that provides a framework. In short, a vehicle to take us to the very threshold of architecture and to set the architectural scene of our city, Ghent, in motion.

We want to use this vehicle to explore Ghent as urban nomads: taking to the streets, venturing into neighbourhoods, and heading out to the outskirts. We want to bring architecture and spatial issues to the city’s residents, users and passers-by. Not just during lectures or events, but also in squares, in neighbourhoods, at architectural projects, on campuses and in places where everyday life unfolds.

Over the coming years, the vehicle will take on various roles. It can be used for jury deliberations for the Ghent Architecture Prize, as a gathering place during street festivals, as a mobile base for Maalstroom, as a pop-up photo studio, as a toolbox available for loan, as a travelling archive, or as a suggestion box for the city. The vehicle creates space for encounters, conversation and exchange. It brings together different voices: residents, students, designers, policymakers, chance passers-by and everyday users of public space. The vehicle becomes a place to share, listen, gather, display, celebrate, discuss and learn.

We are therefore not looking for a design with a single fixed function, but rather a spatial system that facilitates a variety of situations. A vehicle that can adapt, move, nestle and inspire new ways of experiencing our city.

We’d like to leave it up to you to decide what that might look like. Hence this Open Call °°4: The Vehikel – for once, we’re not looking for an existing work, but calling for a completely new design!

The question:

• can accommodate various uses, such as a conversation, a guided tour, a short talk, a coffee break, a workshop…
• can be easily propelled by one or two people
• is sustainable and can last for at least five years (consideration for reusability is a plus)
• has maximum dimensions of 1.50 m wide × 5 m long × 2.00 m high in its narrowest configuration.

V&A, London

How do you take part?

Before 16 August, you can register (either individually or as a team) by sending your name or names to: maalstroom@archipelvzw.be

On Monday 21 September (between 14:00 and 18:00), we look forward to receiving your proposal (consisting of a 1:20 scale model and a maximum of 5 A5 pages) for the ‘Vehikel in de Vitrine’ (Stadskantoor, Woodrow Wilsonplein 1, 9000 Ghent), where it will be on display until 6 October.

On Tuesday 29 September, the prize-giving ceremony will take place following selection by a professional jury comprising Joris Kerremans, Marie Vanderghote and Bert Villa. The winner will receive a design commission for the further development of the vehicle, including a prize of €1,000.

Are you already keen to get stuck in?
If so, please read through the following steps carefully:

Step 1: Sign up

Would you like to take part? If so, please send an email before 16 August to: maalstroom@archipelvzw.be
With the subject line: Open Call °°4: Vehikel
Please state only the first names and surnames of all team members.

Step 2: Submit

Monday 21 September 2026

Your design must be displayed via:

• a physical model on a scale of 1:20;
• a project title and project description on a maximum of one A5 sheet (Verdana 11 pt);
• a maximum of four additional A5 sheets containing images, sketches, references or technical explanations. (One image per A5 sheet). Your project title must also appear on each A5 sheet.

Submit your model and A5 sheets to the EGW building: Woodrow Wilsonplein 1, 9000 Ghent. You may submit your work between 14:00 and 18:00. The competition is conducted entirely anonymously. Give your vehicle a project title. Only state this title on the model (this can be done using a Post-it note or tape with text) and on all documents. In addition, include a sealed envelope bearing the vehicle’s project title. The envelope should contain the names and contact details of all team members. The envelopes will not be opened until the prize-giving ceremony.

Step 3: Judging panel & exhibition

Tuesday 29 September 2026
All designs will be on display from 22 September to 6 October 2026. Archipel and Maalstroom will select a handful of designs for a shortlist. An external expert jury, comprising Joris Kerremans, Marie Vanderghote and Bert Villa, will review this selection on 29 September and choose the design that will travel through Ghent as a vehicle in the coming years.
What is there to win?
The winner will receive a design commission for the further development of the vehicle, including a fee of €1,000.

Who is it for??

For all budding creators.

HEAD - Genève, Raphaëlle Mueller


Basurama

Our judging panel:

Joris Kerremans is an architect and lecturer at Ghent University, and has run his own distinctive practice since 2016. Every project stems from a sense of wonder – whether it be about a programme, a space, a material or a detail. This curious and open-minded approach runs like a thread through everything he designs. The spaces that emerge from this are both intuitive and well thought-out: every element has a clear reason for being, yet could just as easily have been different. In addition to architecture, he also creates installations and scenography.

Marie Vanderghote is an architect, a lecturer at Lab-O at KU Leuven and the coordinator of Broei, the experimental space she co-founded in 2020. Personal side projects such as Yart – art in public spaces – characterise her ongoing exploration of the intersection between the built environment, (temporary) use of space, people and society – between hands-on building and in-depth reflection.

Bert Villa is an artist-architect. Since 2017, he has been involved with various collectives such as Constructlab and 019, and with the architectural practice Cousée & Goris. Previously, he had already set up projects for Z33 in Hasselt; the Belgian Biennale, De Koer and Gouvernement in Ghent; and The Underground School of Contemporary Art in Antwerp. In his own work, Bert plays with the instinctive omission of so-called facts and supposed truths, in order to make way for an alternative reality; often straddling the boundary between technological progress and tried-and-tested folk wisdom.

Dear pigs, 2021


Kuehnle, 2015