In “Dress as a First House”, Ingeborg Meulendijks presents a fragment from her research into the clothing designs of the monk and architect Dom Hans van der Laan. It is on display until 26 July at Bureau Europa, platform for design and architecture in Maastricht.
Meulendijks has been given access to a large collection of drawings and texts on clothing, carefully preserved in the Van der Laan archives at Abbey St. Benedictusberg.
This remarkable abbey in the hills near Vaals was partly designed by Van der Laan, including the church, the crypt, as well as the furniture, the letters of the alphabet, liturgical objects and clothing.
In the corner room of Bureau Europa, Meulendijks presents the work “Dress no. 5”, a reinterpretation of a sewing pattern designed by Van der Laan. In her search for the essence of a garment (in relation to architectural structures), she spent three months working on this dress. The perception of time is part of the research.
“Time-consuming manual work can turn into a liberation from time pressure. This research is like a monk’s work, it is a rhythm of active life and contemplative life. Repetitive actions become a ritual; intensity replaces routine.
The Dutch word ‘Kleed’ (translated as ‘Dress’) is both a noun and a verb. With this word, it is possible for me to express a vision in which objects are also actions, and the world is a collection of processes rather than just things.
Observable things are actually complexes, and meaning is not simply locked upin the thing itself, but comes about through our relationship with it. As the philosopher Merleau-Ponty wrote: “Everything speaks to my body and to my life.”
“DressNo. 5” is not a historical reconstruction, but an interpretation based on my own body measurements.
The spatial structure, formed through touch, is close to the skin and the intimate domain.
As a structure in time, it offers a perspective on making, ownership and contemporary timelessness.”
Ingeborg Meulendijks works at the intersection of architecture and visual art. Her research “Kleed” forms part of the Cella research programme at the Academy of Architecture Maastricht, and is conducted in dialogue with the Soft Materials workshop at the Maastricht Academy of Fine Arts.
Visitor address:
Bureau Europa
Timmerfabriek
Boschstraat 9
6211 AS Maastricht
E info@bureau-europa.nl
T +31 (0)43 3503020
Until 24 July 2026 (by appointment only)
Also read the interview (in Dutch) that Eliane Geurts, programme officer at Bureau Europa, conducted with Ingeborg.
Photography: Nikolas Fahlbusch