Luc Deleu & T.O.P. Office

In 1970 Luc Deleu (°1944, Duffel, BE) and his wife Laurette Gillemot founded T.O.P Office, an independent studio for urbanism and architecture, in their house “Les Nénuphars” in the Cogels Osylei in Antwerp. The very conceptually minded T.O.P Office’s main goal is to intellectually expand the ways of approaching architecture and urban design. They consider new ways of joining architecture, human life and the planet with more creativity to improve the balance between them for a more sustainable future. In 1980 their views were bundled in the Orban Planning Manifesto which reflects, to this day, T.O.P. Office’s core philosophy. Orban Space, the Office’s ongoing research on designing public space in a global context is becoming ever more relevant in a world which is increasingly faced with its own boundaries.

Most of T.O.P. Office’s projects were never realized, but a few were: the reconversion of the parental house of Panamarenko in Antwerp into patrimony and the installation of a work of art (heli-platform) on the roof (2008-2012); the remodelling of tree houses in Blankenberge into a Belle Epoque exhibition centre (2004-2010); the Orbino installation and promenade walk for the Middelheim Open Air Museum (2004); designs, conversions and remodellings of private houses throughout Belgium and several temporary artistic interventions in the public space.

December 2020, a new book Luc Deleu & T.O.P. Office – Future Plans 1970 – 2020 was published, containing 44 contributions by artists, curators, writers, art critics …