As Found. At Hand.

This paper explores how intuition plays a role in navigating the complexities of projects dealing with heritage, drawing from the practical experience in the office of Marie-José Van Hee architecten. Van Hee has a dual relationship with heritage. On the one hand, the Flemish heritage inventory – set up around the time she started her architecture career in the 1970s, feels limiting in her creative work. On the other hand, her oeuvre is considered of value by the same heritage instances, exemplifi ed by the listing of two of her early projects dating from the 1980s, being House Lowie-Derks (1984-86) and the electricity transformer (1982-84), both located in the Ghent Prinsenhof. The work of Marie-José Van Hee starts from a given context, never from a white page. This paper examines how the first primer of observation of the place – the built environment as found – and the interpretation of the context, consisting of a wide variety of vectors, such as social, geographical, and morphological, are essential to understand design possibilities. The elements that the architect considers significant enough to create or not a project are then confided to paper in a series of design exercises and discussed with co-workers, and only later with clients. Marie-José Van Hee often works subliminally with heritage, referencing architectural precedents and her travel experiences. She subtly cuts through layers of history, like peeling an onion and defi ning the depth of the cut with each design decision. Van Hee borrows shapes and lines but also developed her own language. Detailing is based on the logic of old construction techniques and experimenting with new materials. The research is thorough, takes the time it needs and happens in dialogue with makers, craftsman, and material producers, inspired by and contributing to traditional construction methods. This paper considers the role of creativity in the translation of the “as found” and in making heritage-related decisions that are at the same time technical and intuitive, inspired by past experiences, travels, or the drawing process. It aims at contributing to a deeper understanding of what intuition could mean for the design process and how it can be used to broaden up the meaning and value of heritage for the creation of contemporary architectural experiences that respect or highlight local values and narratives. It focuses on two projects of Marie-José Van Hee architecten: her own house in Ghent and House HdF in Zuidzande, The Netherlands.