STUDIO FACADISM
Instructor:
Johan Nielsen
Engagement:
Craftsmanship
Location:
Brussels
Language:
English
Semester:
Semester 3, Fall 2025
Description:
The studio focuses on the construction techniques developed in Brussels during the second half of the 20th century. It approaches façade design as a form of ad-hoc ingenuity: prefabricated concrete systems, decorative frames, coloured glazing, extended structures, reused masonry, salvaged materials, and more.
Today, a deeper understanding of this know-how can help to reinvent and liberate façade design, which is often constrained by political, administrative, and technological pressures.
The studio has established links with the private sector and works on real-life projects. Students will develop proposals based on buildings selected from the Cityforward portfolio (https://bma.brussels/en/cityforward/), which showcases examples of this specific construction culture.
Working with this catalogue will allow students to engage with the operational challenges of architectural interventions within the context of a privately-led development.
Line of inquiry:
Working With / Practice as Study / For Real
Topic, Thematic Focus:
Projective architecture, (Post-)modernism in Brussels, Façade design, Real case proposals
Key Questions or Provocations:
Can façade design be pleasing again?
Methodologies or Formats:
Each student will:
– Select a building from the available catalogue
– Conduct research to situate the building within the history of architectural discourse (current debates, examples, and counter-examples)
– Investigate the structure and technologies specific to the chosen building
– Develop a construction, reconstruction, renovation, or maintenance project, with careful attention to the materials and technical know-how required for such an intervention
– Be able to position their proposal within contemporary architectural discourse
Design / Expected Outcome(s):
Development of a fully detailed architectural proposal supported by critical reflection.
Deliverables:
Plans, detailed drawings, models of the proposal, and two concise written texts.
- Find the full studio brief as pdf here.
Photo: Palmerston Building, Brussels, 2025.