OFFICE 45 — Kortrijk XPO. Belgium
Kortrijk XPO is a typical exposition complex: a multifarious collection of similar halls, corridors connecting them to one another and snippets of vegetation. As one unifying gesture, a frame is placed around this chaotic entity. This frame is made up of a gallery constructed as a modular steel grid, in both elevation and plan. Occasional metal screens make this frame alternately open and closed, oriented towards or screening off its asphalted and logistic interior. Outside the frame the surroundings are natural and green.
The entrance to the XPO halls is accented by a building that adopts the structure of the frame, thus forming a gateway to the interior. The frame redefines the exposition side as a clear whole, delineating its place in the urban fabric. The frame is a gallery that imposes order on the entrances, passages, parking and logistics. It gives the XPO site a recognisable facade that mediates between the scale of the visitor, that of the site, and that of the exhibition halls which it encloses.
