The Belgian architect and artist Luc Deleu (1944) is not inclined to take the easy route. He neither tries to please us nor put us at ease. Deleu’s work takes on big challenges: population growth, uneven food production and distribution, environmental pollution and friction between individual and mass society. For more than four decades, Deleu has developed an oeuvre together with his T.O.P. (Turn On Planning!) office, that challenges the discipline of architecture to rise to its global-scale responsibilities. The reopening ofExtra City Kunsthal in Antwerp presents an overview of Deleu’s recent and older works, including large drawings, models, videos and installations. The main focus of the show is the Orban Space, a “research by design” project that brings the ambition of T.O.P. office full circle. Orban Space seeks to develop a theoretical framework and a practical methodology with which to think about public space on a global scale, and ultimately to develop suitable strategies to design it. This is the second iteration of a critical overview of Deleu’s work, curated by Wouter Davidts and Stefaan Vervoort in collaboration with the T.O.P. office, which was first presented at Stroom Den Haag. A companion to the exhibition is a hefty book on Deleu’s work published by Valiz, designed by Metahaven and including contributions by Guy Châtel, Manfred Pernice, Marjolijn Dijkman, Kersten Geers and UP (Kris Kimpe & Koenraad Dedobbeleer).