For the final edition, curatorial duo Gijs Van Vaerenbergh brought together a strong and diverse group of artists and architects. Under the theme “Archetypes” they were invited to create new work reflecting on the historic context of the site.

International participants were Tokyo-based Atelier Bow Wow, Paris-based American textile artist Sheila Hicks, visual artist Katja Mater and De School artists in residence duo Children Of The Light. Belgian artists include interdisciplinary art collective 019, sculptor Caroline Coolen, the ongoing collaboration of photographer Pieter Huybrechts & scenographer Erki De Vries, sculptor Leon Vranken and Cas-co residents Club Efemeer.

The top-drawer music program gathered over 40 artists from around the globe. The line-up combined the avant-garde, local talent and the ones experimenting with new trends in dance and electronic music. Among them are Motor City Drum Ensemble, Hunee, DJ Fett Burger, I-F Josey Rebelle, Mr Scruff, Palms Trax, Octo Octa, DJ Python, Ron Morelli, DJ Stingray and many others.

The simple structure houses a series of concerts & club nights throughout the summer, serving as a stage for both bands and dancers. Outside of these performances the structure is a functional part of the square, the city. The design itself combines scaffolding with an exterior skin of wood and a beautiful, golden curtain serving as a backdrop.

During the summer ONKRUID programmed a two-day event. Club Kiosk invited international selectors and DJs such as such as Chaos In The CBD, DEBONAIR, Palmbomen II & Betonkust and local talent as Jesse Ebo, Mélomane and Turcksin to Leuven. The event transformed the square in Leuven's most intimate open-air club. A temporary building, a get-together placing club & youth culture at the forefront.

The program was built around diverse profiles from different cultures, backgrounds and disciplines. This talks was setup in collaboration with Architecture Workroom Brussels, in the framework of ‘You Are Here’, an exhibition, programme of urban debates and shared workspace in Brussels, as part of International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam 2018. Made possible with the support of Vedett, Red Bull Organics, Lab North & Architecture Workroom Brussels, and HORST.

Zviad Gelbakhiani - Bassiani, Tbilisi

The infamous & pivotal Bassiani club - often referred to as ‘the New Berghain’ - was founded as a movement with a political and activist element. Partying at Bassiani is a political statement against homophobia and Georgia’s narrow-minded zero tolerance drug policy. Following recent armed police raids of popular Tbilisi venues -including Bassiani- thousands of ravers gathered in protest in front of Georgia's parliament in response to the raids. Today Georgia endures a conflict of culture between its past and its future. Zviad's story is one about how clubculture can influence political movements and create a vibrant community.

Alfredo Brillembourg - Urban-Think Tank, Zürich

UTT is an interdisciplinary design practice dedicated to projects that focus on social architecture and informal development. Through teaching, exhibitions, film and publications they research, create and communicate strategies to improve cities around the world. Founder Alfredo Brillembourg will present his clear-cut vision on the education and development of a new generation of professionals, who will transform cities in the 21st century.

Olivier & Valentijn Goethals - 019, Ghent

019 is an artist-run exhibition, concert and work space occupying a former welding factory in Ghent. The fact that the collective, sets itself up as curator, co-user and co-designer of the building makes it possible to take a different approach on impacting the city.

Among the 180 speakers were Daan Roosegaarde, Stefan Sagmeister, Lucy McRae, Prof. Hiroshi Ishiguro, Shigeru Ban, Carlo Ratti, Sophie Vandebroek, Andrew Keen, Carla Camilla Hjort, Steven Keating, Johan Thijs, Duco Sickinghe & many more. and& immersed the city of Leuven with innovation, technology, arts & creativity and programmed multiple side-events targeting specific audiences often in partnership with national or local key stakeholders.

The opening night offered high-end momentum for the local authorities & client Leuven MindGate to showcase their ambitions. The startup demo day & scale-up forum (invitation only) then again brought together the cream of the crop of Belgian startups (38) & scale-ups (17) presenting their businesses to an audience of (inter)national investors, CEO’s, media & entrepreneurs.

During and& play over 3000 children, teachers & parents were able to experience the world of innovation, technology & creativity. Through workshops and installations they learned more about drones, robots, VR, 3D scanners and much more. The event was made possible with the support of over 35 partners, companies, schools active in the worlds of STEM, education & innovation.

The tech expedition presented multidisciplinary projects combining next generation technology with refreshing creativity. An intervention-filled parcours connecting 4000 visitors with immersive, high-tech experiences.

The music program brought together the ones with the playful nature, the avant-garde and they who are exploring new trends in electronic and dance music. Among them were Bicep, Joy Orbison, Jlin, Laurel Halo, Kelly Lee Owens, Jordan Rakei, Dengue Dengue Dengue and many others.

The program was built around diverse profiles from different cultures, backgrounds and disciplines. The evening was presented in partnership with Ancienne Belgique.

Leo Van Broeck - Flemish Government Architect

The Flemish Government Architect is appointed to actively contribute to forming a vision around and reflecting on upon societal challenges (aging population, climate, changing colour, increased density, …). This vision and reflection are intended to result in policy advice and new initiatives. What is the Government Architect’s view on nightlife and experiencing culture, and how can clubs and suchlike become embedded in the context of the city?

Tabitha Thorlu-Bangura - NTS Radio, London

Radio playlists are becoming increasingly repetitive and less oriented toward the underground. Eight years ago, NTS Radio decided to make use of this vacant space... NTS’ slogan “Don’t Assume” perfectly illustrates how NTS wants to overthrow the status-quo. A tale about how new ways of making radio can move a city.

Franziskus Thiem - founder of Institut Für Zukunft, Leipzig

Over a period of four years, IFZ has come to symbolize a new form of club culture. That is evidenced by a diverse programme, their safer clubbing manifest, countless social initiatives and collaborations with the likes of De School and Tresor. Founder Franziskus Thiem presents a clear-cut vision on nightlife and the city.

Stelplaats offers mixed functions and houses various, more permanent residents: from young art collectives to a skate hall to a social workplace, silkscreen atelier and studio spaces for young artists.

Besides this Stelplaats closely works with youngsters to work on artistic, urban & cultural challenges they experience in their city. Stelplaats wants to stimulate dialogue, creation & action to upscale the position of youngsters in the city.

The neighborhood park consists of two urban rooms, the living room as a playful landscape and the tree room as a small forest. In between the rooms lies the central grass square, an intimate seating area is built around the existing tree. The wooden constructions create an intimate and secure atmosphere, with its own identity for the neighborhood.

The constructions are visually and physically fordable, the park feels welcoming and yet provides sufficient social control. Different spheres have been created that meet the different needs of the local residents. In the living room there are benches, tables and play structures to lie on, slide on or climb over. Thirty trees have been planted in the tree room. Along the edge of this room, banks give a view of the central grass square and the adjacent street. The zone is open for sports, games and small events. The temporary park offers the district the opportunity to observe and evaluate the use of the new open space and to adjust the wishes for its definitive layout.

The neighborhood spot is conceived as an experiment where originality and creativity can meet each other without sacrificing safety and stability. The temporary park is a binding element for the neighborhood. Users & residents were involved in the entire process highlighting the ambition of the project and its neighbourhood support.

The first five editions of the festival are curated by architect/artist duo Gijs Van Vaerenbergh. This fourth edition was titled SPACES & PLACES, and focused on various shared spaces in the surroundings of the castle. In 2017 HORST presented work of Assemble Studio (UK), architecten de vylder vinck taillieu (BE), Gabriel Lester (NL), Batia Suter (CH), Chaim van Luit (NL) and Amber Vanluffelen (BE).

Musically HORST offered a genre-spanning repertoire, a line-up covering versatile ground, a program embodying enthusiasm, flair and talent. Among the presented artists were: Gilles Peterson, Motor City Drum Ensemble, Egyptian Lover, Helena Hauff, Steven Julien, Special Request and many others.

The design of a new temporary bar, was implemented as a subtle intervention, focussing mostly on practical issues. A rotation of the bar, in between the existing columns, opened up a space for the kitchen and acts as an interesting intervention in the space of the café.

The Slope is placed on the crossroads where two festival stages, The Barn and Klub C, meet each other. The structure, orientated towards the mainstage, lifts its crowd and offers a viewpoint over the entire festival. The platform is 55 meters long, 31 meters wide and is covered with 1500 square meters of artificial grass.

From afar the scaffold construction seems to disappear in the festival land, when approaching the gigantic construction seems to slowly rise from the ground up. To avoid an enormous wall at the back of the installation, a similar second space has been created at the back. Fifty lines with 2048 ribbons offer an intimate, yet festive roof. Underneath The Slope festival visitors find a warm resting place with shade, hammocks, tables & benches.

The program was built around diverse profiles from different cultures, backgrounds and disciplines. The evening was presented in partnership with STUK.

Joseph Halligan - Founding Member ASSEMBLE, London

ASSEMBLE Studio is an 18-person, young collective and very promising studio with a horizontal structure. Their practice is based in London and moves between the disciplines of art, architecture, urban design and design. Their work places a strong focus on the relationship between the design process, its users and the urban needs and therefore has a fascinating approach. In 2015 they won the renowned Turner Prize.

Alex Benson - Founder Bloc., London

Bloc. has existed for over ten years and has developed into an electronic music institution. From club night to grand festival, bankruptcy, new start and new event space. Bloc. bursts with experience and has a clear vision of youth culture, music and the city.

Mirik Milan - Night Mayor Amsterdam

The night mayor is committed to ensuring a dynamic nightlife for Amsterdam and in that way bridges the gap between the city, club owners and residents. By creating a mutual understanding he generates an impact on the urban game. The innovative Amsterdam mayorship in Amsterdam is therefore an inspiration for other cities, its international network of partner cities is growing steadily.

A phased strategy was set out to redevelop the monumental halls of the former slaughterhouse into hubs for urban production, manufacturing workshops, logistic buildings and space for creative industries, neighbourhood facilities, sports, leisure and education.

The derelict, open space in between would be transformed into temporary parks and space for urban agriculture. In addition to setting out a global strategy, timeline and physical reactivation strategy and organization model is also put forward per site and a call was launched to future users.

Together with Club Efemeer (collaboration between Maarten Vanermen & Arnaud De Wolf) we built the scenography & program for the night part of the 24 hour event. A party on the scene of theater. The dancers became the performers.

The light sculpture was consciously kept simple, a single 10.000 lumen projector in combination with a hazer and smoke machine. Offering a full focus on the music and the theater interior. The music program was built with local talent Bjeor & Exalt and renowned US-based DJ Kon.

In ‘modern art’ the main concern for artists was the properties and potentials of the specific media. In the last fifty years, especially since the rise of minimalism, interest in interaction between art and architecture was revived. Traditional medias, such as painting and sculpting, were redefined by architectural space since more and more architects were inspired by visual arts. Today this interaction plays an important role in a number of contemporary practices. HORST highlights some of these practices, both by established names and young talent. Among them are Luc Deleu (BE), Pieterjan Ginckels (BE), Adrien Tirtiaux (BE), Anne Dessing (NL), Filip Dujardin (BE), Lodewijk Heylen (BE) & Elise Eeraerts (BE).

The 2016 music line-up is diverse, combining an array of impressive underground producers and guaranteed to deliver deejays. HORST invited personas and collectives from all over the wolrd, each of whom contributing to a bustling hyper-local scene whilst resonating on a global scale. Among them were: Antal, Honey Soundsystem, Mister Saturday Night, Machinedrum, Mala, The Black Madonna, Lone, Awesome Tapes From Africa, Jordan Rakei and many others.

The design was conceived in three zones: the existing terrace of the local bar, the former road and the elevated plaza connected to the canal. On that square, two large wooden structures were placed in the extension of the harbour banks. On one hand a variation on a classical tribune, on the other hand an open seating and playing landscape. Both pieces of furniture were designed according to the size of the urban room. Their position reinforces the visual axis of the Vaartkom and preserves the link with the arts centre.

The space between the two structures serves as a (in)formal play scene. Perfect for mini football, open-air theater productions or birthday parties. The function of the former motorway that runs between terrace and square has been erased. However, by retaining the road marking the memory didn't disappear. In the former car zone circular openings were cut into the asfalt in which the green literally comes back up. From an accessible grass hill, to fruit bushes to a mini birch forest.

The temporary space is a binding element for the neighborhood. It's an experiment where originality and creativity can meet and offer identity without sacrificing safety. The temporary layout of the square offers a chance to discover the possibilities & wishes of the space and its neighbourhood. Onkruid initiated a few activities and opening event to embed the place in the city and with its residents.

The design took the statue as a starting point, with an ambition to connect it with its green lawn and users. We built a floor covering the residual green next to the statue, a floor on the same scale as the statue itself, connecting both statue and lawn as a whole. The floor and main structure served as a seating area, a covered space for DJs to perform, a stage for bands, a place to dance, storage or as a viewpoint to observe the square and its users. 70 white jumping balls were installed as mobile seating elements. A playful addition transforming the floor to a table as well.

The structure was built with scaffolding. Oak parquet glued on a net served as an inviting floor, a durable and inexpensive material. Light scenography was created in partnership with Bob Roijen from Amsterdam adding a playful yet alienating feel to the temporary space. The temporary spaces was built for 10 weeks and housed a broad cultural program. From outdoor film screenings to participatory jam sessions and daytime club nights.

Among the guests were celebrated international DJs such as Max Graef, Ge-Ology, Sassy J, Lefto, Simbad and local talents Tangram Records, Bjeor, Exalt and others. For one summer the square transformed into a cultural hotspot, a get-together placing club & youth culture at the forefront.

In a society often focused on the individual Onkruid wanted to connect citizens again. Therefore Onkruid collaborated with People’s Architecture Office for there award-winning People’s Canopy. The People's Canopy is architecture for events and architecture as event. They are retractable canopies that can cycled by citizens, paraded through the city and expanded over the length of entire streets, linking disconnected public space and connecting citizens.

The People's Canopy is a two-story high expandable roof structure on bicycle wheels that can seat up to 10 cyclists. It is designed to collapse to the size of a double-decker bus so that it can be pedaled from one location to another. When parked, a canopy can open like an accordion to 12 meters in length at a span of 10 meters to cover entire streets. Spaces for automobiles are turned into spaces for pedestrians and events.

The design references expandable canopies popular in Southern China. These are typically used by small businesses such as restaurants and bars to temporarily expand their spaces into parking lots and public sidewalks in an informal way.

Seven canopies were designed and fabricated in Beijing and assembled in Leuven. The opening event of the project was organized around and under a configuration of the 7 canopies on the Ladeuzeplein in Leuven. The canopies were paraded through they city and cycled by citizens of Leuven. After the event the canopies were installed in various locations around the city, linking public squares and markets. They housed a myriad of cultural events and become a recognisable fixture of the city offering identity to its neighbourhoods.

The opening event on the Ladeuzeplein was the festive launch of the project and the heart of the festivities. Citizens were able to enjoy a unique food market, live music and could participate in one of many workshops. The event brought together citizens from all backgrounds and offered a broad momentum to celebrate 500 years of Utopia.

Leuven MindGate Creativity wants to stimulate the potential of Leuven to become a vibrant cultural and creative city with an international appeal. To underline that ambition it wanted to unite creative entrepreneurs and cultural players into a community.

The SPACE event not only gathered this audience but also mapped the specific questions for physical space in the city.

The festival dedicates itself to present various pieces of art, each within its own tempo, ranging from digital, performance or video art to sculptures and temporary installations. During the festival weekend there's a focus on the pieces that bridge both components of the festival. A prime example of this approach is the work that pioneering architectural duo Robbrecht & Daem architects designed for this edition: a pavillion used as a stage during the festival.

Artist Lodewijk Heylen has a similar ‘authentic vs artificial’ approach but used the medium of sculpting. His sculpture ‘Übermenschlich: Diestiaan’ consists out of an artificial reconstruction of iron sandstone that was used as raw material in the building of the castle. He thought up a process by which iron grains go through the process of oxidation and fossilization faster. By doing so, his setup demonstrated the full cycle of the origination of the raw material all the way to its usage in the castle.

Video artist Alexandra Crouwers was fascinated by the decorative patterns she encountered in the stucco of the castle. Her video ‘Rosetta’ showed a psychedelic video projection that is projected onto the castle tower during the festival, visually linking exterior and interior. With the work of sculptor and cabinet-maker Kaspar Hamacher and architectural collective 88888, the focus shifted from the castle to its surroundings. Kaspar Hamacher used a fallen tree he found on the site. Using an intensive treatment process, he was able to transform part of it into a fascinating black sculpture.

The architects of 88888 made a subtle and abstract incision in the face of the water. An estranging intervention that interrupted the continuity of the water and responds to the experience of walking around the castle’s pond.

The artists of Children of the Light also made a link between visual arts and music festival by way of a scenographic intervention. The work connected music experience to spatial conditions and could be seen as an experiment with the format of a festival. And then, there’s the work of writer Koen Sels and the duo Wim Goossens and Arnaud Hendrickx. Koen Sels was invited to design a neon sculpture that will be on display at the waterfront, with the green tree line as its backdrop. Sels was asked to tackle the challenge of handling two problematic genres: that of neon art and that of poetry in the public domain and looked for ways to go beyond their clichés. Wim Goossens and Arnaud Hendrickx used the ‘Isopleth’ installation that they made for the previous edition as a starting point: the first result of a long term collaboration.

In 2015 HORST expanded musically as well and programmed two equal stages with a variety of adventurous, leftfield names in electronic music. HORST looked into the scenes of leading music capitals and kept its ears both in old and new. HORST offered a wide range of international acclaimed artists, local heroes and tomorrow's talents. Among them were: DJ EZ, Benji B, Gerd Janson, Job Jobse, Tom Trago, Jeremy Underground, Tama Sumo & Lakuti, Oneman, Palms Trax, Sinjin Hawke & Zorah Jones, FaltyDL and many others.

Onkruid also interviewed and invited promising and young city makers from around the country to share their experiences and insights. Among them were Toestand (Brussels), KERK (Ghent) and Kortrijk Congé (Kortrijk).

The installation was tested during the build up week of the Trailerpark Festival in Copenhagen, an event organized by ArtRebels. By choosing for a long table, cosy seats and a closeby kitchen, people started to communicate quickly with one another. After testing the installation in Copenhagen, the next installments of the kitchen were at the campsite of the HORST Arts & Music Festival and the Playground Festival at STUK Arts Centre, Leuven

Invited visual artists were Jozef Wouters, Wim Goossens & Arnaud Hendrickx, Kurt D'Haeseleer, Jason van der Woude, tBEDRIJF & Ashes57. Among the music line-up were Joy Orbison, Boddika, Floating Points, Dark Sky live, Flako, Eliphino, Lefto, Cid Rim, STUFF., Leon Vynehall, Stray, Maverick & Poldoore.

Sluispark was Onkruid's first project and offered a test and playzone to discover new ambitions and interests. Onkruid hosted a variety of music events with local and international DJs such as Romare, Renaat Vandepapeliere, Bafana & Mr. Leenknecht.

Onkruid screened the cult movie 'The Sound of Belgium' and the 'Design Thinking' documentary.

Sluispark was Onkruid's first introduction to urban development, an interest that developed the years after.