Ben Weir

artistic research - installation - publication - public space - writing - drawing

I (Ben Weir *1991, Belfast) work within the discipline (as opposed to the profession) of architecture. I denounce the notion of the architect as a neutral service provider. I draw, write, research and build. I work to uncover hidden spatial and material potentials. I generate projects through the survey of existing conditions, a process that invents as much as records. I favor dynamism, the unfinished, the open-to-change. I reject demolition and tabula rasa. I dissect, re-present and interrogate existing urban artifacts, seeking to express their current condition, situation, or relationship to us. I insert new objects into this environment, always seeking a positive contribution to a diverse, equitable and complex environment.

  • Portfolio
  • Activities
  • Awarded
  • Contact

    • VierVaart

    Residencies / exchange

    • 01-10-2024 t/m 30-11-2024
    • In collaboration with: Mondriaan Funds
    • Location: , Groede

    VARES

    Residencies / exchange

    • 01-04-2024 t/m 30-04-2024
    • Location: , Valga
    • A residency about making heated furniture with whatever comes to hand

    StudioTutor

    Other

    • 22-09-2019 t/m 20-05-2021
    • Location: Queen's University, Belfast
    • Development and co-running of Master's in Architecture postgraduate program, including field trips, lecture series, design of student project briefs and studio methodology

    Greylight Projects

    Residencies / exchange

    • 01-11-2022 t/m 04-12-2022
    • In collaboration with: Kulturraum Niederrhein aV
    • Location: , Heerlen
    • Autumn residency as part of the Borderland Residencies programme, a unique network of art residencies in the Maas-Rhine Euregion. I was studying the work of Heerlen architect Frits Peutz and its relationship to the post-mining city.

    3a F

    Residencies / exchange

    • 05-11-2021 t/m 05-02-2021
    • Location: , Aix en Provence
    • A contemporary arts center of national interest (CACIN) set within the Montperrin Psychiatric Hospital. The residency included workshops with patients and staff about measuring space and objects, and concluded with a solo show in the exhibition hall which explored the notion of buildings-inside-buildings.

    Artists in Architecture: Reactivating Modern European Houses

    Residencies / exchange

    • 25-07-2019 t/m 25-09-2019
    • In collaboration with: Mies van der Rohe Foundation (Barcelona), University of Naples Federico II (Naples) and BOZAR (Brussels)
    • Location: Casa Vilaro, Barcelona
    • A Creative Europe program of the European Union in the framework of the European Year of Cultural Heritage 2018 (EYCH), which sought to unlock various issues related to the preservation, adaptation and (re)activation of European architectural heritage. I was placed in the 1930 villa Casa Vilaro, the 'first rationalist house in Spain.'
    • https://miesbcn.com/calendar/residence-artists-in-architecture-reactivating-modern-houses-ben-weir-at-casa-vilaro/

    Jan van Eyck Academy

    Residencies / exchange

    • 11-04-2018 t/m 22-03-2019
    • Location: , Maastricht
    • Participant at post-academic institute

    DU2017

    Residencies / exchange

    • 03-07-2017 t/m 10-09-2017
    • Location: , Maastricht
    • Nomadic residency program. Eight emerging artists selected to occupy three anti-squat houses on Henri Jonasslaan in Caberg.
    • destinationunknown.nu

    Research associate

    Other

    • 01-01-2021 t/m 31-12-2022
    • Location: CCA Derry~Londonderry, Derry
    • ccadld.org

    Core is Concrete

    Exhibition / presentation

    • 05-10-2022 t/m 30-11-2022
    • In partnership with: Fenton Arts Trust
    • Venue: Catalyst Arts, Belfast
    • Permanent furniture installation, alongside interventions by Niamh Seana-Meehan and Tanad Aaron

    Charged Space

    Exhibition / presentation

    • 05-01-2022 t/m 25-03-2022
    • Location: 3bisF - Lieu d'Arts Contemporains, Aix-en-Provence
    • solo show

    Not Quite Nearly Fine

    Exhibition / presentation

    • 05-06-2021 t/m 28-07-2021
    • Location: Fondazione Baruchello, Rome
    • Presentation of recorded reading of short story, published in a book of the same name. Group show featuring Anne Huijnen, Artun Alaska Arasli, Ben Weir, Daniel de Paula, Giulio Squillacciotti, Marie Claire Krell, Marwan Moujaes, Nour Mobarak.

    Irish Modernisms: Legacies of Modernism in the North

    Exhibition / presentation

    • 29-05-2021 t/m 25-09-2021
    • Location: CCA Derry~Londonderry, Derry
    • Group show featuring James Ashe, Phillip McCrilly, Grace McMurry, Rachael Campbell-Palmer, Ben Weir

    Casa Vilaro: A Caress and a Blow

    Exhibition / presentation

    • 19-11-2021 t/m 10-12-2021
    • Location: Fundacio Mies vd Rohe, Barcelona Pavilion, Barcelona
    • Exhibition of residency outcome, launch of publication, public talk.

    Artists in Architecture: Reactivating Modern European Heritage

    Exhibition / presentation

    • 13-11-2019 t/m 12-01-2020
    • Location: BOZAR, Brussels

    GET LOST art route 2019

    Exhibition / presentation

    • 28-06-2019 t/m 03-11-2019
    • Location: Sloterdijk, Amsterdam
    • Temporary architectural installation in public space, collaboration with artist Andrea Canepa

    Van Eyck Open Studios

    Exhibition / presentation

    • 14-03-2019 t/m 16-03-2019
    • Location: Jan Van Eyck Academy, Maastricht
    • Built intervention alongside 46 participating artists, designers, architects, curators and writers

    Imagine! Belfast Festival of Politics and Ideas

    Exhibition / presentation

    • 17-03-2018 t/m 17-03-2018
    • Location: Talbot Street, Belfast
    • Temporary architectural installation in public space, alongside curated program of performances, talks, sound installations from invited guests

    FROM 2017

    Exhibition / presentation

    • 08-09-2018 t/m 10-09-2018
    • In collaboration with: Destination Unknown Foundation
    • Location: Henri Jonaslaan, Maastricht
    • 8 person show resulting from 2 month residency occupying 3 empty anti-squat houses prior to their demolition

    EVERYTHINGGETSTREATEDTHESAME/

    Exhibition / presentation

    • 15-07-2017 t/m 15-07-2017
    • Location: Framework, Belfast
    • Exhibition alongside book launch

    Acknowledgments

      Scholarship

    • Arts Council of Northern Ireland

    • 2022
      Scholarship

    • Fenton Arts Trust, UK

    • 2022
      Scholarship

    • Fleur Groenendijk Foundation, Rotterdam

    • 2021
      Scholarship

    • AN the artists company

    • 2023
      Scholarship

    • R&D CBK

    • 2023
      Publication

    • Casa Vilaro; Artists in Architecture: Reactivating Modern European Heritage

    • 2020
    • Exhibition accommodation
    • Fundacio Mies van der Rohe (Barcelona) - Ben Weir, Ariadna Perich, Anna Ramos, Ivan Blasi
      Publication

    • Everything Gets Treated The Same

    • 2017
    • artist book
    • Self published - Ben Weir
      Publication

    • Not Quite Nearly Fine

    • 2022
    • Compilation
    • Arbor Editions (Rome) - Giulio Squillacciotti
      Publication

    • An Addition to a Room

    • 2023
    • Self-pulled
    • Greylight Projects, Kulturraum Niederrhein bv - Ben Weir