Komplement und Verstaerker Amplifier and Compliment

Christoph Grafe cg
Stadsbouwmeesters between and above
the Chairs. A Report from Flanders
The international attention for Antwerp’s Urban Renaissance has not only
reached the specialist public in recent years, but has also been reflected in
all kinds of reports in newspapers such as the New York Times, the Guardian
and on the continent. At first somewhat unnoticed, Antwerp has developed
in recent years into a destination for cultural travellers. The interest that the
Flemish port city receives in international media and that is reflected in the
presence of many young city travellers in the cafés, boutiques, and streets was
initially due to the fame of the fashion designers that have their place of work
here. But also the development of the old harbour areas, the attractive ‘Zuid’
museum quarter and last but not least the opening of the Museum aan de
Strom (MAS) have contributed to the fact that the urban development and the
architectural culture of the city have found a wider public.
Yet Antwerp seems to do everything differently from other cities with
half a million inhabitants. The comparison with Rotterdam, which is only an
hour away by train and about the same size, is particularly blatant. While the
Dutch port city has been relying on the brachial violence of large volumes for
three decades now, building one icon after another, and sometimes above the
other, and countering the biggest real estate crisis with yet another artificially
created construction boom, Antwerp stands for small-scale, prudent urbanism.
The development of the historic but somewhat dilapidated inner city into a
hip destination for fashion lovers; the slow revival of run-down late nineteenth
century districts; and the revitalisation of the old port areas; all of these developments
are the result of long processes of change, small steps and sometimes
almost invisible movements. The English architecture critic Ellis Woodman
described this as ‘slow urbanism’ in the 2012 edition of the Architectural Review
Flanders, discussing Antwerp’s urban development as an example of a careful,
yet visionary, approach to the city’s urban fabric and potential. 1
Slowness as a method of testing economic and urban development
possibilities, but also as a form of quality control: ‘Trial and error’ are part of
urban development, which is also committed to the social and economic sustainability
of new developments.
Independence: Strength and Weakness
Antwerp’s successful urban development has many authors. Lone warriors
who have been campaigning for their city since the nineteen-eighties. Architects
like bOb van Reeth, who as a Flemish master builder became involved in
debates about undesirable developments in the district of the station. Committed
planners who convinced their colleagues in the city administration of
the wisdom of integrated urban development. Last but not least, politicians
from almost all parties who stood up for the quality in urban planning and
architecture. Urban development in a city like Antwerp clearly represents a
minefield of the most diverse interests. One of the most important agents in
the history of Antwerp’s urban development is undoubtedly the Stadsbouwmeester—in
English ‘city architect’, while in German the exact translation
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