Work A(ke)rk | new pavilion | interior design | exhibition design

Research

Type: Intervention, interior design, exhibition design
Phase: Preliminary design
Client: Akerk, Stichting Oude Groninger Kerken
Engineering and sustainability consulting: ABT
Location: Groningen, The Netherlands
Year: 2023 -

The Akerk, with its iconic yellow church tower at the heart of the city centre of Groningen, holds a special place in city's identity. Together with the Martinikerk Church and hundreds of smaller, historically significant churches in the province of Groningen, it forms a vital part of our cultural heritage.

One of the central questions driving this Design Research is how to revitalize the Akerk as a true city church: a place that is open and welcoming, where people come and go freely, and a church that deepens the bonds within and between communities.

Research is being conducted on various scales to explore how the redesign can foster a strong connection and exchange between the Akerk, its local residents, the city center, and the other churches across the province of Groningen. At present, the Design Research is focused on examining the relationship between the Akerk, the Akerkhof square, and the surrounding area in greater detail.

In this design, the river Aa, which became hidden from view over the years but after which the church is named, becomes a narrative thread that weaves together the history of the church, the province, and the pressing issue of climate urgency.

The newly constructed pavilion, resembling a compressed water droplet of the flowing A river, occupies the intermediary space between two historic buildings. It serves as a powerful symbol of climate urgency, imparting fresh significance to both its location and the adjacent church.

New entrance, exhibition spaces and new multifunctional tribune are designed in the form of the river landscape flowing through the church, that brings together different stories of Groningen.

Project

Biography

Lesia Topolnyk (StudioSpaceStation) is an architect, artist, researcher, and film director based in The Netherlands and working internationally. Raised within a constantly changing political environment in her native Ukraine and educated as an artist and architect, at the heart of her practice lies a fascination with the interconnectedness of global dynamics and invisible forces that manifest and shape our physical realities.

After a decade of working for internationally renowned architecture practices, Lesia founded Studio Space Station to respond to urgent societal and planetary issues beyond traditional boundaries of architecture, bringing together global and local concerns.

Through mediums of installations, interventions, architectural designs, drawings, films, and sculptures, Lesia makes ideas, dreams, and hidden stories tangible. Grounded in extensive research, each project unfolds as a unique expression of its context. Lesia’s work seeks to provoke thought, evoke emotion, and spark dialogue, inviting engagement with the complexities of our world in new and unexpected ways.

Lesia easily navigates between different scales and realities, holding masters in Architecture (NL), Urban Planning (PL), and Environmental design (UA). For her work, Lesia has received numerous Dutch and international awards, being exhibited and published internationally. Lesia teaches and gives lectures in The Netherlands and abroad.

Honors & Awards

2023 - IABR Agent of Change
2023 - Financieele Dagblad Top 50 Talent 2023
2022 - Winner Prix de Rome (The oldest and most prestigious prize for talented artists and architects in the Netherlands)
2020 - Talent Grant, Creative Industries, Netherlands
2020 - Young Talent Architecture Award, nomination (by the Fundació Mies van der Rohe and the EU Commission)
2019 - Winner Archiprix Nederland
2019 - Winner Archiprix International
2019 - Winner Tamayouz International Award

Selected Exhibitions

2024 - International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam (IABR)
2024 - OMI, Rotterdam
2022 - Prix de Rome, NI, Rotterdam
2022 - Architecture Triennale, Lisbon
2022 - New European Bauhaus, Brussels
2021 - Dutch Design Week
2021 - Biennale, Venice
2020 - Dutch Design Week
2019 - Biennale, Santiago
2019 - Archiprix International
2019 - Archiprix Netherlands

Portrait Prix de Rome 2022

'Lesia Topolnyk is an architect who focuses on a broader interpretation of her field. She is interested in the potential of her profession within our constructed reality – not necessarily in building things. 'It's about ideas that take shape during the research and design process which generate new typologies,' she says. For her, it's not enough to shape the world reactively, or in line with what already exists. She explains: 'Although architects are seen as people who design spaces, we also design relationships. Especially in these turbulent political times, it's necessary to look at how the world is designed to understand the larger context in which a project is taking place. I sometimes reflect on major problems at a global level, while other times I focus on the space inside someone's mind.'

Topolnyk grew up in Ukraine, and addressed the situation in Crimea with her final project at the Academy of Architecture in Amsterdam. She created a proposal for a building that consisted primarily of corridors – places where discussions and interactions occur that ultimately have the greatest influence on the decisions being made. Continuous mediation of the situation was central to this concept. The architecture symbolised and supported the mental capacity of those involved. In this endless network of hallways, which reference the agora, visitors could have endless discussions which allowed for a continuous debate; politics is an ongoing conversation. Similarly, her own vision of architecture and her process of research and design focuses on conversation, contributions from different positions, and the involvement of people with a wide range of expertise. She therefore frequently collaborates with people who work in different fields. Because 'you can learn from others and they bring valuable insights and viewpoints...'

Her current research is focused on the various crises humanity is currently facing, with a special interest in political systems and the significance of democracy, including its Greek foundations. She is exploring how this form of government was historically designed and how architecture supported and portrayed it. 'It's about how we can shape change and how we can manage the world better together,' she concludes. Architecture can play a role in that by offering design solutions that support the decision-making process.'

Text: Vincent van Velsen

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