AgwA

 Benoît Vandenbulcke, Harold Fallon and Benoît Burquel

AgwA is an architecture studio based in Brussels, founded by Harold Fallon and Benoît Vandenbulcke, later joined by Benoît Burquel as partner. Since its establishment in the mid-2000s, the studio has developed a practice that combines design, research and teaching, positioning itself within the contemporary Belgian architectural scene, which has gained international recognition for its critical approach to public architecture and urban space.

AgwA’s work is characterised by a precise attention to structure and constructive logic, understood not merely as technical elements but as tools capable of organising space and enabling its appropriation by users. Rather than pursuing architecture driven by form or image, their projects are articulated through clear and robust systems, where structural repetition, economy of means and the direct use of materials generate open architectures capable of adapting to multiple uses and transformations over time.

A large part of their work focuses on public facilities, particularly schools, cultural centres and urban infrastructures. In these contexts, the studio explores how architecture can construct generous and flexible spatial frameworks that encourage collective life. Their projects often employ large continuous spaces, visible structures and repetitive constructive elements, allowing for a clear reading of the building while facilitating its future evolution.

Among their most representative works are the transformation of the INSAS School of Performing Arts in Brussels, where a new structure organises rehearsal and performance spaces; the ECAM project in Brussels, which combines renovation and new interventions to redefine a university campus; and several sports and educational infrastructures in Belgium, where the studio develops spatial solutions that are simple yet architecturally powerful.

Alongside their professional practice, the partners of AgwA maintain a strong academic presence in several Belgian universities, reinforcing the reflective dimension of their work. This close relationship between practice and theory has helped consolidate an architectural approach that, rather than pursuing formal gestures, seeks to propose durable spatial frameworks capable of supporting public life.

Over the past years, AgwA has established itself as one of the most distinctive voices in contemporary Belgian architecture, recognised for a rigorous approach that emphasises structure, constructive clarity and the capacity of architecture to generate spaces open to collective appropriation.