Bar Assembly – Kortrijk, Belgium

Envisioned as a communal space, the design seeks to create a point of gathering amongst the bustle of the biennale. Bar Assembly serves as a singular collector where all persons, regardless of reason for attending, sit amongst one another at long communal tables consuming simple food in a casual open setting. The idea here is that the bar area becomes an extension of the expo itself, whereby design serves as an enabler, provoking conversation, interaction, and community.

Built almost exclusively from structural timber, the framework creates the distinct feeling of enclosure without removing the space from the visual and acoustical energy of the larger expo. A simple triangular geometry functioning as a module allows easy construction and repetition, enabling the overall configuration of the bar to be quickly adjusted according to any constraints of the exhibition space. The wood members are joined together largely without special cuts, instead choosing to let each piece rest on top of or adjacent to one another, creating a primitive richness that blends harmoniously with the character of the overall structure. Large communal tables, built from plywood, painted white, seating between six and ten people, are suspended from the framework.

Project Team
Leonidas Trampoukis, Eleni Petaloti, Brandon Maldonado
Owner
Biennale Interieur
Budget
10.000 euro
Total built area
100m²
Awards
International Competition – Biennale Interieur 2014, Interieur Spaces Award – Honorable mention