This portfolio is a gathering of the architectural works of Jonas Bensch. Playing the role as engineer architect in his firm called "DONT THINK". Each topic is briefly covered with text and images.

2. jonas@dontthink.be
+32 473 48 64 02
@jonasbensch

3. Education.
When I was 16, I decided to study Civil Engineering
in Architecture at the Catholic University of Leuven.
During my bachelors I shifted the Centre of gravity
towards the human side and become an honorable
architect. Thus widening my view by adding
psychology, sociology and anthropology to my
regular courses, visiting any lecture or workshop
within my reach and spending holidays at
architecture offices.

4. Work.
The weekend after my graduation I started, as an
architect, in the multi-disciplinary firm called Studio
Arne Quinze. Inevitably the edges of my
architectural cast started to erode by the many other
disciplines such as: interior, furniture and graphic
design…
After some years I orientated myself towards urban
master planning by working for Wit architecten. Next
to it, I have private work in Switzerland and Belgium.

5. Journey.
2006 three months intensive internship at Quinze
and Milan – five days workshop with Zaha Hadid
2007 Studio Arne Quinze – realized a private house
– realized the lounge in Carré Club – designed a
tower in Bucharest – designed two towers in
Brussels
2009 Wit architecten – conceived the master plan for
the quays of Antwerp – designed the master plan for
the rehabilitation Centre in Pellenberg – realized a
shoe store and private house in Geneva

6. Snapshots.
People have the tendency to surround themselves
with things they admire, such as: your friends, your
chairs, your music ... They build a physical library.
Nowadays it is possible to surpass and get rid of
these physical restraints. You can take
pictures, shoot video’s, record sound ... That’ s
why, when I move around, my iPhone is never far
away and I hive away digital data for pos- sible later
use.

7. Paris

8. Brussels

9. Brussels

10. Somewhere

11. Miles Aldridge

12. Caiguoqiang - HeadOn

13. Workshop - Zaha Hadid.
During my fourth year at university I was
assigned, together with two other students, to
participate in a five days international architectural
workshop called: “thinking the future of Symbolic
Places”.
The main objectives was:
- reflecting on the purpose and future of “places of
memory and remembrance”
- research on memorials and heritage

17. Final work – K.U.L.
I decided to locate my thesis in Bucharest, Romania.
A city with an extreme poverty rate, many chaos and
a growing discrepancy between private and public...
Despite these almost inhuman conditions, people
(on their private property) displayed an unrestrained
creativity. Thus I wanted to provide a structure which
did not obstruct the creativity of its future users.
A structure meant for living, working, leisure...

20. Private residence - Roeselare.
Providing an area where shelter is more important
than captivity, materialised through large as well as
small scale gestures. Resulted in two horizontal
plates, framing the surrounding garden from the
inside. The feeling of captivity is countered by
positioning the walls according to an “open corner”
principle. The inevitable straight confrontations are
mitigated and made impalpable by rounded plaster
and plinths.

30. Tower - Bucharest.
The program consisted of 70% offices, 5%
apartments, 15% shops, 10% restaurants and bars.
All together 30.000sqm. The volumetric of the
building is the result of numerous attempts in
convincing Arne Quinze. (of course we couldn’t
make is a NY Sanaa building) Because the plot was
relatively small, the focus lay on a small footprint.
This gave us the chance to create a little landscape
around the base of the building and give the citizens
something in return.

36. RAC - Brussels.
The layout and looks were an idea of “the master”
himself (Arne Quinze). His assertion during the
preliminary phase was “creativity could not be
bonded with money”. And so we went on and
on, convincing the client and the city. The program
wasn’t the easiest one: a hotel
complex, apartments, offices, a museum, a
park, metro connections, underground railroad
restrictions, an electricity hub, the firehouse, the
connection between high and low Brussels...

39. Carré Lounge - Willebroek.
The space literally had to lure its clients inside, as it
didn’t have any connection to the main dance room.
We used bright red colours at the entrance, fading
into dark brown, sand, grey and silver. As the title
suggests, it were all square tiles. This form was a
useful tool for making the tablets attached to the
wall, inserting mirrors in the gradient and stitching all
functions together. All fixed furniture was custom
made and upholstered by Studio Arne Quinze.

43. Quays of the Scheldt - Antwerp.
In 2005 the city of Antwerp and the Flemish
government concluded they needed a planning
strategy for the reconstruction of the Scheldt quays.
The first step in this process was the development of
a master plan that investigates a global attitude for
the public space, the rise of the water barrier and the
quay wall stabilisation. The team composed by Wit
architecten, Proap and D-recta won the international
competition.

44. Modules

45. Decompression zone of the city

46. Different activities

47. Palimpsest of heritage

48. Mobility

49. Water barrier

53. UZ Pellenberg. - Pellenberg.
Wit architecten + Gonçalo Byrne Arquitectos won the
master plan for the revalidation centre in Pellenberg.
The master plan is based on 6 principles. 1 Slim
down the existing building 2 Emphasis the
borderline between forest and open land 3 Propose
two parallel swings 4 Clarify the mobility 5 Use the
hill as a great chance and possibility 6 Provide an
infrastructural backbone as a guide for future
expansions.

55. Slim down the building Forest vs open land Parallel swings Mobility

56. Programmatic sections

57. Shoe store. - Geneva.
The store concealed 25sqm floor surface and a 4 m
high ceiling. The client wanted to store, expose and
sell her shoes at those 25sqm. Keeping in mind the
varying size of shoe boxes during winter and
summer.
I divided the store into two parts, a closed part in the
back and an open one in the front. The closed part
consisted of a big storage closet. The open space
was exposition area.

62. Private residence - Geneva.
The less I do the better the result will be.
Demarking freedom and responsibilities among
client and architect was my main task. I did so by
insisting on 3 elements: a cupboard, tablet and floor.
They provide framework and canvas on which the
client can shape its eclecticism.
Who am I to compel clients with a certain way of life.

74. The new modulor?
Start with 30x30cm and multiply by your intuition.

75. A B
C
1
B B
A A
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C

76. SNEDE A - 1/20
A B
+310 P
+250 P
DETAIL 03
-2,5 P 0P 0P
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-87,5 P -82,5 P
DETAIL 01

77. jonas@dontthink.be
+32 473 48 64 02
@jonasbensch