GRAFT is a Belgian collaboration between Thomas Faes and Marie van Kerckhoven. We focus on contextual interventions in the fields of architecture and landscape.
A 'graft' (NL) is formed where fields have long been cultivated into farmland on gently sloping flanks. Plot boundaries between two separate agricultural fields were gradually transformed by years of plowing into narrow, ever-higher wild verges. Where these used to be neglected strips in times of abundance of land, today they have become one of our most valuable, often untouched natural structures. A paradoxical change that evokes the question of balance between man and nature and that forms a basis for research in architecture and landscape.
THOMAS FAES
(BE, 1992) graduated in 2015 from KU Leuven Sint-Lucas. After graduation he gained experience working for Muller Van Severen and as a carpenter for Atelier Roose. In 2016 he started working as an architect for Robbrecht & Daem and Jo Taillieu. Thomas is currently working for Marie-José Van Hee in Ghent. During his work as an architect he started his studies landscape architecture.
MARIE VAN KERCKHOVEN
(BE, 1992) graduated in 2015 from KU Leuven Sint-Lucas. After graduation she gained experience in carpentry. She worked for Bovenbouw architectuur in Antwerp and is currently working for 51N4E in Brussels. Marie is also teaching architectural design at UGent.