An image contains as many details as some will see — and others will not. For meaning to emerge, for those willing to engage with it, a detail must create a connection. It must respond to something: a use, a material, a method, a context.
More than aesthetics, a detail is the result of a series of conscious choices and lucky accidents. When the relationship between context and detail becomes clear, spatiality emerges. No detail is gratuitous if it stands for thought.
The pleasure of detail, which architects know how to recognize among themselves, tends today to provoke a certain unease, for fear of not appearing “of one’s time.” In a context where architectural debate is dominated by notions of low tech and high tech, ecology, gender, and broader societal issues, it can be salutary to return to the pleasure of detail — simple, and sometimes full of wit.
1. Tapta (Maria Wierusz-Kowalski), Flexible Place: A Seat to Suspend Time and Two Soft Columns, 1974 © Collection Centre national des arts plastiques (CNAP), Paris-La Défense, Courtesy of ISELP – Documentation Centre, Brussels.
2. Cathedral of Our Lady, Tournai, c. 1150 In: La cathédrale de Tournai, introduction by J. Dumoulin, Photographs by J. De Coninck, J. Cayet, Ch. Dessart, SADO and A.C.L., 1959 © Charles Dessart
3. Cathedral of Our Lady, ‘The Falling Man’, Tournai, c. 1150 In: Paul Roland, La sculpture tournaisienne, Éditions du Cercle d’Art, 1944 © Etablissements de Photogravure Adrianssens Frères et Swillens
4. Future Systems, Hauer King House, London (UK), 1994 © Richard Davies
5. Charles Voysey, Joseph Forster House and Studio, Bedford Park, London (UK), 1894 © Unknown
6. Eileen Gray – Jean Badovici, Villa E-1027, Roquebrune-Cap-Martin (FR), 1929 © Villa E-1027
7. Jože Plečnik, Hall of Columns at Prague Castle, Prague (CZ), c. 1930 © MGML/Plečnik Collection
8. Henry Lacoste, Condolence Hall at the South Cemetery, Tournai, 1927 © Pigeolet, Hervé, IRPA – KIK-IRPA
9. Luigi Caccia Dominioni, Apartment, Via Vigoni 13, Milan (IT), 1959 © Unknown
10. Achille Castiglioni – Gianfranco Cavaglià, Installation for the Flos showroom, 1972 © Castiglione archive, Milan
11. Achille Castiglioni – Gianfranco Cavaglià, Installation for the Flos showroom, 1972 © Castiglione archive, Milan
12. William Turnbull, Zimmerman House, Fairfax, Virginia (US), 1975 © Rob Super
13. Alison & Peter Smithson, Hexenhaus (Witch House) for Axel Bruchhäuser, Bad Karlshafen, Hesse (G), 2002 © Axel Bruchhäuser
14. Kazuo Shinohara, House in Uehara, Shibuya, Tokyo (JP), 1976 © Unknown
15. bOb Van Reeth, House in Harmoniewijk, Antwerp, 1980 © Oh my George
16. Terunobu Fujimori, Tanpopo (Dandelion House), Kokubunji, Tokyo (JP), 1995 © Akihisa Masuda
17. Kawai Kanjiro’s House, Kyoto (JP), 1937 © Mizuno Katsuhiko, Mizuno Hidehiko
18. Maarten Van Severen, Boxy House, Deurle, 2000 © 2013 The Maarten Van Severen Foundation
19. Michel Gerber, L’atelier des Perdrigals, Treilles (FR), c. 1970 © Books in boxes for removal
20. Wim Goes, Refuge II, Nevele, 2014 © Filip Dujardin
21. Marie-José Van Hee, House Van Hee, Ghent, 1997 © Crispijn Van Sas
22. Lamusch architects, Flora, Borgerhout (Antwerp), 2024 © David de Bruijn
23. Caroline Lambrechts – Machteld D’Hollander, Patijn House, Ghent, 2017 © Filip Dujardin
24. De Smet Vermeulen, Dienstbrug, Ghent, 2015 © Dennis De Smet
25. Leopold Banchini, Round About Baths, Concentrico, Logroño (Spain), 2025 © Gregori Civera
26. 51N4E, Room in the City, 2016 © Maxime Delvaux
27. Anne Rondia, Place Maghin, Liège, 1997 © Marc Wendelski
