STUDIO L A - Arna Mačkić — new location

Active Monuments

– reflection by Philippe Viérin

Arna Mačkić is an architect, co-founder of Studio LA and former head of Architectural Design at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy. At the age of 4, Mačkić fled the civil war in former Yugoslavia with her parents. Today, she uses her architectural practice and teaching as a means to investigate social issues, phenomena and stories and place them in a new perspective.

In her work, Mačkić takes a critical stance on the role of architecture. Architecture should contribute to unity, coexistence and inclusion instead of struggle, enmity and exclusion. “If you can use architecture to segregate people, to erase culture and identity, you can also do it the other way around”, Mačkić argues. In this way, she opposes gentrification and the monotonous development of new housing estates. To her opinion, it is the architect’s responsibility to engage a wide audience and to create places for all.

Together with Lorien Beijaert she founded Studio LA, which, in line with her vision, deals critically with mechanisms of inclusion and exclusion, refugee issues, collective identity and the public domain. Studio LA mainly designs installations and monuments. For the Architecture Biennale in Venice, they created the installation ‘Cities to Dust’, a critique of tourism. Studio LA has won several prices for its work, including the Groningen Architecture Prize 2021 for their ‘Memory Balcony’.

In her book Mortal Cities & Forgotten Monument (Park Books, 2016), Mačkić reflects on the reconstruction of her ruined hometown Mostar in Bosnia-Herzegovina. She explores how urban design is linked to identity and how architecture can contribute to an open way of urban development and reconstruction – while preserving (intangible) historical heritage.

Reflection by Philippe Viérin | Philippe Viérin (°Bruges, 1969) graduated from Ghent University in 1992, worked at Stéphane Beel, Kees Christiaanse Architects & Planners in Rotterdam and at Piet Viérin. Philippe Viérin is co-founder of noAarchitecten, based in Bruges and Brussels. NoA stood out with new buildings and the reinterpretation of existing buildings, such as the town hall of Menen and Het Steen in Antwerp. The office is currently working on the conversion of the Brussels Citroën garage into the Kanal cultural center. Viérin recently published the essay 'Plaats' in which he explores the significance of reconstruction architecture after the First World War and the special role of his grandfather architect Jos Viérin.