Master Studio
Agenda 2040, Brussels.
Tutor: Roeland Dudal
Engagement: Urban Cultures
Academic year 26-27, semester 1, Campus Brussels
Language: English
Image: The Food Network, Clara Mitterhuber, Studio: Future Places Brussels – Campus 44, 2023.
Context and approach
Is the Brussels Capital Region ready to accommodate the major social transitions that lie ahead? The mobility policy is not getting enough grip on the modal shift to the mobility of the future, with safe traffic in healthy air. Who will pay the bill for the transition to sustainable energy districts, for which thousands of buildings will have to be renovated? What are the models to make housing affordable and neighborhoods socially inclusive? How can green and water policy arm the city against the effects of climate change, such as heat islands and floods? Where to host the urban economy in the future? How do we bring technological innovation, circular production and training together in open and multifunctional workplaces? How do we embed healthcare in all its forms (standard, social and mental) in the urban fabric? How do we create space for informal care networks?
In this studio we explore the future of Brussels, mapping representative neighbourhoods and looking into case-studies, using architectural design and design thinking to examine and demonstrate how architects and architecture can contribute to a living environment that facilitates better solutions for our societal challenges. This results into design research on an urban-architectural scale and an atlas on the expected future of Brussels that illustrates an agenda for Brussels in 2040. We set the scene for an architectural practice that makes the capital of Europe and Belgium more inclusive, more resilient and more beautiful. We confront these insights with the work and the vision of different Brussels actors, including policy agencies like the Brussels bouwmeester maitre architecte and civic society organisations.
Images: Open Huis de Meeûs, Iliana Ingoglia, Studio: Masterproef Future Places Brussels, 2024.
Studio Set Up
The studio work starts from a critical exploration of the expected future of the Brussels Capital Region. We evaluate the impact of the envisioned societal objectives on our built environment and society.
Image: extracts of the Collective Atlas, Studio: Future Places Brussels – Campus 44, 2024.
The first phase (7 weeks) of the semester will be organized as a collective work. The production of an Atlas of Brussels in 2040 will look back on the expected evolution of the city in the next 15 years. En suite, we formulate an Agenda for Brussels in 2040. What is the future that we want? We are placing major transitions for the neighborhood on the agenda of that same future, from the reuse of old buildings for new functions such as housing, care, sports and education, to creating space for the urban economy, biodiversity, water and new forms of mobility.
This studio will take the hypothesis and the agenda of the cultural online platform The Great Transformation (www.thegreattransformation.eu) as a backdrop. The Great Transformation works on the conception of Future Places. If we can develop them in many locations simultaneously, they will constitute the greatest transformation project of our time and we will succeed in the necessary transition of our living environment. Can we bundle our strengths to replicate change?
In order to achieve the above-mentioned multiplication, we have to invent. We will need to design the Future Places tailored to Brussels’ society. We need to organize the interaction between public and private forces differently. We have to invent new typologies of buildings and reclaim public spaces. We need to rethink real estate models and ownership in the city.
Design research on an architectural scale will demonstrate how we can tune the future of the city by taking smart decisions today. This will be the second phase of the semester (7 weeks). Students will work individually to develop a design on an architectural (human) scale, within the collective vision. Sites to work on will be proposed by the student and can be selected from a list of interesting sites and topics that are proposed by actors from the Brussels societal field. Amongst others by the Brussels bouwmeester maitre architect within their program BMA x Academics (see link below).
External links:
Image: Pacheco Institute, Mantas Povilaika, Studio: The Now and The Next BXL 2040, 2021.