The office embraces a diverse range of projects, spanning from objects to expansive public spaces, each imbued with a celebration of contemporary everyday life.Lauka is a collaborative studio for architecture, objects and urbanism, based in Belgium.
We work across scales — from small things you can hold to spaces you can get lost in. Each project begins with the same question: how can design make everyday life a little more extraordinary (without pretending to be)?
We like to think of our work as a clearing in the forest — open, unprescribed, a place where things can happen. The interesting stuff tends to grow in the in-between — that thin line where forest becomes clearing, where variety and encounter thrive.
What we build, we hope, are frameworks for life to unfold. Not abstract containers, but places that invite use, contact, and friction. Spaces where people and cities meet — sniff, touch, push back, and shape one another.
Collaboration sits at the heart of what we do. Lauka brings together a shifting ecosystem of designers, artists, producers, programmers, poets, architects, and educators. Each project redraws the map: roles overlap, sensibilities mingle, and new perspectives emerge.
In short: we like building things. But mostly, we like what happens inside them.
Team
Mira De Winne, director, °1987
Master of Science (arch.) MSA, studied architecture at the KU Leuven (campus Sint Lucas Ghent) from 2005 until 2010. Alongside practice she teaches as guest professor at KU Leuven - Sint-Lucas Gent . From 2010 until 2017 she gained experience in several renowned architecture firms such as Atelier Fernandez & Serres architectes (France) and B-architecten.
Aaron Michels, director, °1989
Master of Science (arch.) MSA, studied architecture at the KU Leuven (campus Sint Lucas Ghent) from 2008 until 2013. From 2015 until 2020 he was a project-architect at Havana architectuur working on several public and private buildings. Alongside practice he is engaged in teaching at The Faculty of Engineering and Architecture of Ghent University
Jakub Srnka, Project Collaborator, °1993
Engineer of Architecture (Ing.arch.), studied at the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism at the CTU Prague from 2012 until 2019. In 2018 he studied at the TU Munich. Before joining lauka he worked from 2020 until 2023 at Bovenbouw on multiple private and public buildings and exhibitions.
previous: Laurens Decoster, Leila Zahedi, Fumiya Hitomi