Horst Festival

Horst festival is a two day festival of music and two month exposition of art. In 2017 Assemble were asked to design one of the two stages at the festival. 

The site for the festival is centered around a 14th century castle, inaccessible in 2017 due to renovation works. Assemble sought to rectify this by creating a doppleganger of the original castle on the site next door, the Newcastle.

Utilising a system scaffold – for a budget of 10,000 euros – the structure looks to achieve something of the same scale as the original castle. Wrapped in blue netting, the Newcastle appears under construction, it’s form abstracted and facade hidden; it’s appearance changing from day to night. Located in a clearing in the woods on the edge of the lake, the three tier structure presents the spectators with a new festival experience.

Continuous balconies on two levels and a central pit dance floor set the stage like a Shakespearian drama, where both actors and audience are part of the performance. Like the English Elizabethan Theatre, the Newcastle transforms the stage from something to look at, into something to be part of, creating a more pronounced interaction between artist and performer.

The festival was curated by architect / artist duo Gijs van Vaerenbergh and Assemble’s work was presented alongside architecten de vylder vinck taillieu (BE), Gabriel Lester (NL), Chaim van Luit (NL), Batia Suter (CH), and Amber Vanluffelen (BE).