Pupillen Revisited
Master dissertation studio 2026-27
Campus Sint-Lucas Ghent
Tutors: Mechthild Stuhlmacher, Stijn Leemans
Language: English / Dutch
The Pupillen site in Aalst is an intriguing heritage site with an enormous potential. It is a much-discussed place, having been the subject of several competitions and design research in the past, as well as ambitious and less ambitious proposals that have repeatedly come to a standstill due to a lack of financial resources and/or political will. The result: a unique site in the heart of the city of Aalst that still lies dormantly awaiting redevelopment. The place with its partly empty, ruinous buildings, courtyards and gardens is rich in layers and architectural elements: a monumental town hall, dilapidated historic town palaces, and a disused monumental military school, all surrounding an impressive courtyard garden of monumental proportions. All this lies in the immediate vicinity of the main square of the town, the main shopping areas and the successful new Utopia project (Kaan Architecten 2018), a combination of a library and a school for performing arts in need of expansion. The project involves the repurposing, reinterpretation and connection of the various components of the plan, determining a suitable programme comprising public and private functions, and a spatial vision for the sequence of outdoor spaces and their connection to the city.
In the studio we explore the potential of the site as an urban enclave with a social and cultural meaning. The partly introvert ensemble needs revaluation with new programmatic infills and refined architectural means.
After an exploratory analysis, we work with small groups on a strategic masterplan for the entire site, including proposals for a reinterpretation and new use for several specific properties where we see opportunities for expressive and contemporary architectural interventions. In the second half of the studio, each student individually or in small working groups can choose their own site and shape their own project.
The possibilities are diverse and can be designed in different ways, from pragmatic and technical, to experimental, poetic and visual. Architecturally, the assignment focusses on the discovery and (re)interpretation of existing qualities, conversions and extensions, subtle and bold new-build interventions and fundamental sustainability. From an urban planning perspective, we examine the spatial and landscape embedding of the site, possible (renewed) relationships with the surroundings and the role and meaning of public and collective spaces and gardens. Programmatically, we focus on the design of various public functions in combination with housing such as the extension of the library, specific schools, childcare and care institutions; social, cultural, gastronomic, touristic programmes and uses.
Our work in the studio is linked to current studies and projects that take place outside the academic world and is intended for motivated students with an interest in transformations and a focus on the relationship between interior and exterior spaces, to unusual interiors and detailed elaborations. There is room for exploring and developing a specific architectural relationship between existing and new, for (circular) use of materials.
The necessary structural and programmatic interventions require artistic flair and conceptual intelligence. Enthusiasm for craftsmanship, tectonic aspects, materiality, model making and spatial quality are prerequisites.
Expected output:
Analysis and presentation of reference projects
Choice and analysis of a specific site, with its spatial, cultural context
Design of a programmatic and architectural masterplan of the wider context (preferably in smaller groups)
Architectural design of a fragment in detail, image research, structural research, model making
Presentation
Reflective, illustrated essay or ‘project journal’
Excursion/study trip/…
Several spontaneous study trips and site visits within Belgium and/or The Netherlands
Planned in the autumn or the spring: an excursion to Milan, exploring the relationship between existing and new interventions (Liliana Grassi, BBPR, Muzio, Dominioni and others) and the architectural notion of ‘Ambiente’.
References/Further reading:
Umbaukultur, The Architecture of Altering, Grafe, Rieniets