Gjiltinë Isufi + Fiachra McCarthy

Gjiltinë Isufi and Fiachra McCarthy explore speculative approaches to architecture by engaging with overlooked buildings and contested geographies. Through drawings and installations, they explore architecture as a medium to uncover suppressed narratives. Their recent work includes the investigation of the lost history of ‘New Geneva’ as part of their residency in Ireland, funded by Culture Moves Europe (2024). Their work will be exhibited at the AATE Festival in Galway, Ireland (2025) and their earlier work has been exhibited at the ENSA Saint-Ètienne in France (2023).

Gjiltinë is an architect and researcher based in Brussels. As a recipient of the FWO Fellowship, she is currently conducting a PhD at KU Leuven with the project ‘In Space We Read Trauma: Disclosing Microhistories in Kosovo, 1980-1999’. The project focuses on the development of a methodological framework for spatially investigating traumatic experiences. Gjiltinë is teaching at KU Leuven on the intersection of trauma and space. Her recent work will be part of the Aarhus Biennale (2026), and earlier works have been nominated for the EUmies YTAA (2023), presented at the Manifesta Biennial (2022), awarded the Laureate Prize at KU Leuven (2022), and awarded the Lars Lerup Award at the Dessau Institute of Architecture, Germany (2019).

Fiachra is an architect and artist working between Belgium and Ireland. He studied architecture at TUD, Dublin and KU Leuven, Brussels, with further studies at HSLU, Luzern, and UIC, Barcelona. Fiachra’s practice sits at the intersection of art and architecture, spanning work in Ireland, Belgium, and China. He is also the co-founder of the Brussels based art and scenography duo F//AAT. His works include a pavilion design for the Affair Festival in Belgium (2025), co-creating Mangé at GIFTSHOP (2025), and a personal exhibition of his duo at VONK, Hasselt (2024). His work has been exhibited at De Singel in Antwerp (2024) and featured in The Architectural Review (2022).