Riet Coosemans graduated as an architect from Sint-Lucas Brussels (KU Leuven) in 2022 with a theoretical master’s thesis on Alfons Hoppenbrouwers’ Solar House. Such a master’s thesis is a formula in which an architecture student conducts theoretical research from the perspective of an architect. Coosemans researched the genealogy of the house, spent a lot of time in the archives, interviewed the residents and studied the building while drawing. She also linked her architectural and historical analysis to an urgent theme of today: the climate crisis.

The Solar House by Brussels architect Alfons Hoppenbrouwers (1930–2001) was built in 1976 in Oud-Heverlee. Hoppenbrouwers was one of the founders of the Sint-Lucas schools in Belgium, taught there and also established the Sint-Lucas archive. As an architect, he was influenced by the constructivism and modernism of Le Corbusier. Due to the use of raw concrete and distinctive structural elements, his work is generally considered to be brutalist.