Urban explorations for a city in transition
Master Dissertation Studio 24-25
Tutor: Livia de Bethune
Sint-Lucas Ghent Campus
Image: Heat islands Brussels
Subject to the current acute challenges, in terms of climate, energy, society, …, as architects, we will look for adapted, urban models for the metropolitan context. Brussels that lingered for a long time in the functionalist ideology, undergoes currently a rapid evolution, making the city an interesting research case, Brussels as a laboratory.
There is a growing demand for a more livable city with a high life quality, including the more vulnerable. How does one create qualitative and sustainable public space, for an important and diverse populations in a dense urban context in transition ?
We will work on (the north of) the Brussels metropolis, territory whose intelligence, its plurality, we want to recognise and understand in order to elaborate resilient, proposals for it.
Method
The studio students work as a research team and adopt a multidisciplinary approach (reinforced by externals).
1.Reading
A critical reading of the 19th- and 20th-century urban fabric. Discover, and reveal the site’s potentials, inspiring the development of a strategy towards the future. (in group)
In this phase we will observe, decode, report the different aspects, using different methods.
– Historical and geographical siting,
– Spatial investigation of the environment at different scales
– Examination of the city’s multilayered structure (above and below ground)
– Understanding the uses and needs of local residents, through observation and interviews with residents and local stakeholders
– Observation of (germs of) urban nature
Analysis through different methods, based on literature completed with conferences and study work on Brussels.
2.Reflecting
Each student will focus, in parallel, on a specific chosen theme (climate, rainwater management, urban nature, prevailing, sometimes contradictory trends in terms of mobility, healthier environment, growing urban density, inclusive public space for all, … ) They will explore other urban models and exemplary projects (good practices).
3.Defining the urgency and developing urban strategies
We will (individually) rethink, in answer to the current challenges, one common occurring urban infrastructure / public space / located in the Brussels Region, such as: – a Brussels avenue, a ‘steenweg’ or chaussée, an (arched) waterway, a (covered) railway infrastructure, a metro station, a shopping arcade, …
We will approach the urban spatial typologies as concrete spatial models or urban infrastructures but also as imaginary concepts, through literature, film or documentaries. A series of lenses to read and look at the place from different angles. Each student will build a personal narrative to approach the site.
4.Designing and detailing the urban model
Through this multiple approach, we as architects develop, strategies to (re)design (existing) urban infrastructures and public spaces in response to the current challenges. We will explore by design, through scenarios, the possibilities of urban public spaces and infrastructures, linked to the specific site. We will finally assess the public space projects for their buildability and feasibility.
References
Lectures by experts and local actors
Literature
Alkemade F. (2020). Rewriting architecture: 10+1 Actions – Tabula scripta
Appel-Muller M. (2016), Passages, Transitional spaces for the 21st century city
Benjamin W., Das Passage-Werk or Acades Project
Declève B., de Lestrange R., Gallezot H., Mantziaras P. (2020),Dessiner la transition, Dispositions pour une métropole écologique
De Visscher J-P. (2022), Which morphologies for “inclusion in urbanity”? Exploring practices along the Steenweg, in Brussels Studies
Gehl J. (2010), Cities for people
Girot C. (2016), The course of landscape architecture,
Ghosh A., (2016), The Great derangement, Climate change and the unthinkable
Hillier B. & Hanson J., (1984), The social logic of space ,
Jallon B., Napolitano U., Boutté F. (2020) ‘Paris Haussmann, modèle de ville’,
Ledent G., Porotto A. (2023), Brussels Housing: atlas of residential Building types
Masboungi A., Petitjean A., (2022) L’urbanisme vecteur de transitions
Boutté F., Meyer H. (1998), A reluctant reorientation ; the design of major public works, in Landscape architecture and town planning in the Netherlands 95-97
Picon A. (2024), Natures urbaines, Une histoire technique et sociale 1600-2030
de Solà-Morales M., (2008), A matter of things
Sennett R. (2018), Building and dwelling
Shannon K., Smets M. (2010), The landscape of the contemporary infrastructure
Smets B., (2016) Welke ‘Metropolitan Landscapes’ voor Brussel en de rand, in Metropolitan landscapes, Open ruimte als basis voor stedelijke ontwikkeling
Urban Brussels, (2024), Draaiboek publieke ruimte in het Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest
Vigano P., (2016), Territories of urbanism, The project as knowledge producer
Whyte W. (1988), The social life of small urban spaces