Assemble Studio was commissioned to design 2017’s venue of the Horst Festival, a music and art event held in Belgium.
A two-month art exhibition and two-day music fest make up the Horst Festival, held on the grounds of Horst Castle, an idyllic Renaissance building near the village of Sint-Pieters-Rode.
As the castle was undergoing renovation, Assemble was commissioned to build one of the festival’s two venues. On a budget of 20,000 euros the idea was to imitate the shape and dimensions similar to the original setting’s, hence the three-level scaffold structure on a clearing in the woods, close to the lake.
With blue netting all around it and looking different by day and by night, the pavilion seems caught in a permanent state of ongoing construction.
In imitation of classic Shakespearean theaters, where the audience interacted with the actors, the performance space or dance floor is overlooked by two levels of balconies. The stage/show is no longer just something to look at, but something to be part of, intensifying the artist-spectator rapport.
The festival has established itself as a venue for electronic music, but also for contemporary art and architecture, gathering artists of different fields.
