Future Places Brussels – Schaerbeek 2040
Tutor: Roeland Dudal
Engagement: Urban Cultures
Academic year 25-26, semester 1, Campus Brussels
Language: English
Image: The Food Network, Clara Mitterhuber, Studio: Future Places Brussels – Campus 44, 2023.
Context and approach
Schaerbeek is a part of the Brussels-Capital Region that is in full bloom. The Josaphat park is the park to be. Several architectural projects and urban renewal projects have been completed or are in progress. A new metro line under the densely populated neighborhoods between the Brussels North Station and the Brussels’ Airport is planned. New parts of the city, such as the Josaphat district and the redevelopment of Schaerbeek Formation, are on the drawing board. No problem at all, it seems.
But is Schaerbeek 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?
Image: extract of the Collective Atlas, Studio: Future Places Brussels – Campus 44, 2024.
Studio Set Up
The studio work starts from a critical exploration of the expected future of Schaerbeek, including the campus of the Faculty of Architecture at Paleizenstraat. We evaluate the impact of the envisioned societal objectives on our built environment and society.
The first phase (7 weeks) of the semester will be organized as a collective work. The production of an atlas of Schaerbeek in 2040 will look back on the expected evolution of the city in the next 15 years. Is this expected future the future 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’ and Schaerbeek’s 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 in duos to develop a design on an architectural (human) scale, within the collective vision.
External links:
Image: Pacheco Institute, Mantas Povilaika, Studio: The Now and The Next BXL 2040, 2021.