Maarschalk Gerardstraat 5 Studios / Eagles of Architecture

On Maarschalk Gerardstraat in Antwerp, Eagles of Architecture subdivided a large nineteenth-century house into studios. The façade was painted a uniform white, and the interior of the porte-cochère and its two classical columns were given the same treatment. The passage was obstructed by a third hollow column covered with pink plasterboard, the standard finishing for a pipe duct. The combination of a classical column with a pipe duct comes across as a laconic gesture comparable to Le Corbusier’s exclamation, ‘Pour Ledoux, c’était facile – pas de tubes’ (For Ledoux, it was easy – no tubes). But if the confrontation with the townhouse is in itself already a contest, then Eagles of Architecture lets its opponent have the choice of weapons.