The Architecture of the Unbuilt

Based in Leiden, Netherlands, Flore de Koning approaches the canvas with the precision of a builder and the intuition of a dreamer. Born in 1977, her practice is rooted in a deep fascination with how we shape our surroundings. She looks at the city and the natural world not as fixed entities, but as things that are constantly being made, reshaped, and reimagined. This interest in the "manufacturability" of our environment drives her to explore the space between a blueprint and a finished reality.

Her process is physical and tactile. Before a single stroke of paint meets the surface, she constructs small models. These maquettes act as the foundation for her compositions, allowing her to manipulate space and form in three dimensions before translating them into two. This method ensures that her paintings possess a structural weight, even when they lean into the abstract.

Lines and Logic

The core of her work lies in a tension between the rigid and the organic. She draws heavily from the language of architectural drawings, floor plans, and construction diagrams. However, these are not blueprints intended for a construction site. Instead, they are designs created with hindsight, reflecting a world that has already been built or a world that exists only in the mind. This creates a unique visual dialogue within her paintings:

• The use of strict geometric structures to provide order.
• The introduction of fluid, natural lines that break through symmetry.
• A reliance on contrasting colors to define depth and movement.
• The transformation of technical floorplans into expressive art.

In her 2011 work, Floorplan, this dynamic is particularly clear. The painting balances the sharp, unyielding edges of cubes against softer, wandering lines. It is a study in how structure can coexist with the unpredictable flow of nature.

A Study in Form

De Koning’s work occupies a space where the technical meets the poetic. By using the language of the architect—the straight line, the grid, the measured angle—she attempts to bring the world back to its most fundamental, malleable stage. Her paintings do not merely represent a space; they investigate the very idea of how a space might be conceived. Through her careful layering of geometry and organic movement, she captures the quiet energy found in the intersection of human design and the natural landscape.