UFO

An architecture to explore, a structure to move through, a surface that reflects the world. At WECANDANCE 2026, Jöran Dhaen transforms modular geometry into an immersive experience where architecture, light and music redefine the boundaries of the dancefloor. 

An Object out of the ordinary 

On the beach, between sky and sand, an enigmatic object emerges. Its low silhouette, inclined surfaces and mirrored skin alter our perception, making it difficult to immediately understand what we are looking at. It could be a temporary architecture, a monumental sculpture or something that has just landed from another dimension. This is UFO, the stage designed by Jöran Dhaen for WECANDANCE 2026: an architecture that chooses not to reveal itself all at once, but instead invites visitors to approach, observe and discover. 

The project began with a precise spatial challenge: to create an arena with the DJ positioned off-centre while maximising the dancefloor area across multiple levels. The response did not emerge from a predetermined image, but from a process of exploration in which geometry, construction systems and spatial organisation developed simultaneously. 

This process is what ultimately defines UFO. Its form is not an envelope applied to a structure, but the outcome of an investigation that transforms construction logic into architectural language.

Geometry as a Point of Departure 

At the heart of the project lies an exploration of the possibilities offered by the Layher modular system. Following earlier experiments with triangular geometries, including a three-dimensional diamond, the research focused on connecting a modular Layher flooring system into a continuous polygonal composition. 

From this investigation, an articulated configuration emerged, shaped by angles, connections and volumes that gradually developed their own formal identity. Its resemblance to an extraterrestrial object came later: rather than being the starting point, it was an unexpected consequence of the geometric process. 

This approach reflects a defining characteristic of Dhaen’s work: pushing a technical system beyond its conventional function and exploring its expressive potential without losing sight of buildability. Aesthetics are never separated from engineering; the two evolve together until they become one, in a structure where every element contributes both to stability and to the perception of space.

Inside and Out: Two Identities, One Architecture 

One of WECANDANCE’s boldest decisions was the mirrored exterior, developed and engineered by Sculture Studio. The inclined surfaces capture the beach, the sky and the movements of visitors, continuously transforming the object’s appearance. 

The architectural mass seems to dissolve into its surroundings. UFO does not simply impose itself on the landscape; it absorbs it, fragments it and reflects it back through ever-changing images. From a distance, the structure appears almost abstract. As visitors approach, its scale becomes more tangible, and the complexity concealed behind its surface begins to emerge. 

The mirrored exterior therefore serves a dual purpose. On one hand, it conceals the technical nature of the construction, preserving its mystery. On the other, it makes the audience an integral part of the image. People stop, take photographs and recognise themselves in the reflections. The façade becomes an interactive visual device, extending the experience of the stage far beyond the performance itself. 

Crossing the entrance means passing through a perceptual threshold. The deliberately low openings compress the space and restrict the view inside, delaying the revelation of the structure. Then, beyond the threshold, the mystery gives way to construction. 

The Beauty of Exposed Structure 

Inside, the mirrored envelope gives way to an unapologetically industrial landscape. Steel uprights, diagonal bracing, connections and platforms form a dense, rhythmic framework. The repetition of structural elements creates visual depth, while the cantilevered structure encloses the dancefloor, intensifying the sensation of being held within an architectural environment. 

The contrast with the exterior is striking, yet never contradictory. If the mirrored surface conceals and dissolves, the frame reveals and defines. If the exterior seems to withdraw from its surroundings, the interior establishes its identity through the legibility of its components and the relationships between them. 

The dancefloor occupies the centre of this open composition, articulated by perimeter platforms at different levels. Positioned off-centre, the DJ becomes the focal point of a configuration designed to prioritise collective experience and spatial continuity. 

Architecture is therefore more than a backdrop for music: it organises movement, directs the gaze and shapes the way the audience inhabits the festival. 

Light as Architectural Material 

As night falls, the structure takes on a new depth. Randall Diagre’s lighting design works with the geometry through points of light, LED lines and indirect illumination, creating a composition that changes according to the viewer’s position. 

Points establish a rhythm across the frame; luminous lines emphasise its edges and directions; diffused light reveals volumes and the spaces between the metal elements. Three perceptual scales overlap, transforming the structure into a dynamic lighting system. 

Light is not simply added to the architecture; it makes its relationships visible. Geometry becomes legible through luminous trajectories, depth and contrast, while the eye moves from an individual point to a line, from the line to the structure, and from the structure to the entire performance space. 

The result is an environment that surrounds the audience. Looking towards the DJ, across the dancefloor or along the perimeter reveals new combinations of light and material. Music activates the space, light transforms its perception, and architecture brings the two experiences together. 

When the Audience Completes the Design 

The success of UFO can also be measured by what happens beyond the dancefloor. Throughout the festival, the mirrored exterior becomes a destination in its own right: a place to pause and compose one’s own image within the architecture. 

The photographs shared on social media amplify this dimension, but the phenomenon reveals something more interesting than the object’s photogenic appeal. It demonstrates the audience’s ability to appropriate a space, transforming it into a personal and collective experience. 

UFO is explored, observed, photographed and experienced from different perspectives. There is no single definitive image of the project: every reflection, every movement and every lighting condition produces a different version of it. 

This is where temporary architecture moves beyond its scenographic function. It does not simply host an event; it creates a recognisable place, capable of establishing a relationship between form, environment and community. 

Set to return in future editions of WECANDANCE, UFO demonstrates how a modular system can become the starting point for an ambitious spatial investigation, in which technology does not constrain creativity but fuels it. 

Rather than representing an object from an imaginary elsewhere, UFO challenges the way we look at our surroundings. It suggests that sometimes, discovering a new architecture does not require building something entirely unprecedented. It simply requires looking at a familiar system from a different perspective.

Credits:

• Design, visuals & technical: Jöran Dhaen 

• Commissioned & curated by: WECANDANCE 

• Lighting design: Randall Diagre 

• Mirrors & engineering: Sculture Studio 

• Layher construction: ASE Belgium 

• Sound & light: John & Jane 

• Coordination & interior decoration: Mathieu Foulon, Sébastien Vandenhouten & crew 

Photography: Jeroen Verrecht, Cederic Vandenberghe, Jöran Dhaen, Alexandre Payen, Felix Marech and Rafael Deprost.