EU Views: Pol Esteve & Bernard Dubois
Name: Pol Esteve & Bernard Dubois
Nationality: Spanish (Esteve), Belgian (Dubois)
Occupation(s): Co-directors of the AA Visiting School Brussels (Esteve is the Co-founder of the architecture studio GOIG, and a teacher at the AA School of Architecture as a studio master and in the History and Theory department. Dubois is an architect based in Brussels, and was the co-curator of the Belgian Pavilion at Venice Architecture Biennale 2014).
Connection to Europe: They are designing a research workshop in Brussels focused on addressing the role of architecture in representing political communities. Specifically, the project will analyse how buildings of EU institutions perform in creating a shared identity for Europeans, with the objective of questioning “how architecture can be a central instrument in the EU’s visual identity strategies within a contemporary context where digital technologies are crucial to the construction of public identity.”
Date of interview: ____
In this episode, architects Pol Esteve and Bernard Dubois talk about the turning point Europe faces today, specifically highlighting the imbalances between the supranational institutions of the EU and the national-based governments. Given their backgrounds growing up in Catalonia and Belgium, the two men agreed that there are many schisms in Europe – at the EU, national, and regional levels – but that integration can occur as a result of finding commonalities beyond geographical borders. They emphasized the radical modernization of Europe and role of younger generations in participating in the European project. They concluded that artists in Europe should promote a better understanding of EU institutions, promote transparency, and defending human rights and diversity.