https://www.ouvroir.fr/deshima/index.php?id=681 Publications de Auteurs Albert Gielen fr 0 https://www.ouvroir.fr/deshima/index.php?id=680 The architect is not only the creator of space but also the one who designs the space. As a character, therefore, the architect is a rewarding object of research since it is through the description of space that characters are defined—explicitly or implicitly. In the novel Euforie (Euphoria, 2012) of Christiaan Weijts, the reader deals with architect Johannes Vermeer as the main character. As a consequence, the reflections made by Vermeer are a contribution to the meaning of the story: they not only reveal the character, but also contribute to the overall meaning of the novel. The architect as an actor and a character is responsible for the novel’s ideological and aesthetic (architectural) views and forms of the world around him. I analyse the ideological aspects associated with his architectural views by examining how they have taken shape in the text and how the protagonist will come to design a special place in the city (cité—a concept drawn from a comparison with Richard Sennett’s Building and Dwelling. Ethics for the City) after a terrorist attack. Vermeer is, in fact, also (and above all) criticising a very Dutch concept of maakbaarheid of society (a form of social engineering), which combines well with the idea of modernity as the “machines’ era” since it supposes human beings are programmable, just like machines. mer., 01 oct. 2025 12:13:51 +0200 mer., 03 déc. 2025 10:57:37 +0100 https://www.ouvroir.fr/deshima/index.php?id=680