Project

For the first presentation moment of long-term research project Hospitality on Wheels, Constructlab Belgium was invited to take part in Kunst & Zwalm 2025. In the first half year of this research trajectory, we have investigated how hospitable elements take shape within the workings of Constructlab. Based on our findings, we have worked on the first prototype of our mobile architecture.

During Kunst & Zwalm, visitors encountered the first version of Hospitality on Wheels, accompanied by a satellite component conceived especially for this edition of the festival: H.O.T. – a mobile, performative tea installation.

Inspired by the river Zwalm and its misty, steaming dampness, H.O.T. transforms the act of making and sharing tea into a gesture of encounter. Here, tea is harvested, brewed, and served; warmth and steam mingle with conversation and pause. Through tea as a medium, we invite a slowing down of time, an attentiveness to the moment of exchange. While hospitality often begins with something as simple as offering a drink, we believe that this modest gesture holds the power to open space for genuine connection.

For once, Constructlab was not building on site. In preparation for Kunst & Zwalm 2025, we took the time together to think, design, and build during a residency at De Verffabriek/Shif–t* (Ghent, BE). There, the H.O.T. was assembled from aluminium crates, an ideal medium for mobility. Strolling up and down the hills of the Flemish Ardennes in the Zwalm region, we had to design our mobile tea station as light as possible, but also sturdy enough for the off-road parts of the route.

For the H.O.T. a flyer was made functioning as packaging for the self-made tea, with snakes slithering through the text.