Ben Weir (Belfast, 1991) is an Irish – British artist – architect based in the Netherlands. He was a Borderland Residencies artist at Greylight Projects in Autumn 2022. The research carried out during the residency was on the celebrated Heerlen architect Frits Peutz.

Research took place in the form of building visits, studies of architectural plans, surveying and re-drawing the work, and a visit to one of his remaining children in the nearby village of Trintelen. Ben was not so interested in a biographical study, but more so in being 'struck' by the physicality and presence of the buildings in contemporary Heerlen, during its search for a post-mining identity. He was interested in pursuing a deeper line of enquiry than the usual 'modern vs. historical' dichotomy that exists in the discourse around Peutz's work, being led instead to the highly specific moments and unusual details that occur throughout the work.

During the residency period, the building of Greylight Projects itself became of increasing interest to Ben, a villa from the 1900s that became a school for the Duitse Bond, the U.L.O school and later the Vrije school. The building has seen multiple alterations and additions, most significantly in 1959 with a large modern classroom wing.

Ben concluded the residency with a proposal for an architectural intervention to the guest studio in which he had been working. The parasitic structure facilitates new relationships of light, program and privacy between the studio and the hallway, whilst creating a mezzanine and integrating unusual features from the Vrije school period. This project was self-built in February 2023.

Part of Ben Weir.