A+287 Article: Building bridges by Hanne Mangelschots and Serafina Van Godtsenhoven

Architecture in Belgium
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December 2020–January 2021
Special Edition: Practices of Change

287
5 Editorial Lisa De Visscher and Roeland Dudal
Subjects 8 Building bridges: designing processes for acceleration Hanne Mangelschots and Serafina Van Godtsenhoven
54 ‘Commons’ to change the city Nathalie Cobbaut
78 Rediscovering sustainable commissioning Michiel Van Balen
108 New governance strategies for urban design Sigita Simona Paplauskaite
Round-table 32 ‘We need to set the agenda for what is being built’ Lisa De Visscher
discussion
Projects 14 bc Architects and Studies, Circular and modular production hall, Brussels Véronique Patteeuw
20 ouest – Rotor dc, zinneke, Brussels Jolien Naeyaert
26 a2o architecten, Timelab, Ghent Birgit Cleppe
44 nu architectuuratelier, Centers, Antwerp Bart Tritsmans
50 51n4e – Plant- en Houtgoed, Redingenhof, Leuven Guillaume Vanneste
60 Atelier Oost-Vlaams Kerngebied, Eeklo – Lievegem – Merelbeke
Nik Naudts and Carmen Van Maercke
66 Tractebel – Maat-ontwerpers, Tuinen van Stene, Ostend Stefan Devoldere
72 Vlaamse Landmaatschappij, Water + Land + Schap Pieter T’Jonck
84 Osar – Astor, Klein Veldekens, Geel Gideon Boie
88 Dethier Architectures, hosomi, Outrewarche Pauline Malras
94 Stéphane Beel – blaf – denc!, De Nieuwe Dokken, Ghent Chloë Raemdonck
102 conix rdbm Architects – Rotor dc, multi Tower, Brussels Eline Dehullu

2 Biographies
a+287
Gideon Boie
is an architect and founder of
Bavo, a research collective
focusing on the political di -
mension of art, architecture and
urban planning. He is a lecturer
and researcher at the Faculty
of Architecture kuleuven.
His research focuses on the urgent
challenges in care architecture.
Birgit Cleppe
is an architectural engineer.
She is writing a PhD on post-war
art documentaries at the Arts
Department of ugent. In 2018
shewas on the editorial staff of
the Flanders Architectural Review.
Nathalie Cobbaut
has been working as a journalist
since 1992. A lawyer by training,
she has always been a generalist
in information processing,
with a particular attention to the
popularization of the fields
covered.
Stefan Devoldere
is dean of the Faculty of Architecture
and Art at Hasselt
University. As president of the
‘Stadsatelier Oostende’ (from
2016) and as former deputy
and acting Flemish Government
Architect (2011–2016), he stimulates
the quality of the built
environment in Flanders.
Roeland Dudal
is founding partner of Arch i-
tecture Workroom Brussels,
a European think-and-do tank
for innovation in the field
of architecture and urban and
regional development.
He studied architecture at the
University of Ghent. He teaches
architectural design at the
kuleuven Faculty of Architecture
Campus Ghent and
Brussels.
Pauline Malras
is a freelance journalist who
specializes in architecture,
design and construction techniques.
In 2013 she graduated
from the École Nationale
Supérieure d’Architecture et de
Paysage de Lille (with a focus
on ‘materiality and building
culture’). She draws on her
experience and her training
to analyse contemporary
developments in architecture.
Hanne Mangelschots
graduated as an architectural
engineer from kuleuven. Within
Architecture Workroom Brussels
she researches and tests new
process designs and platforms
for spatial transformation,
such as the Delta Atelier,
You Are Here and The Great
Transformation.
Jolien Naeyaert
is a Brussels-based architecturalengineer
and visual artist. She
graduated from Ghent University
in 2012 and subsequently studied
autonomous design at the kask
School of Arts Ghent.
Since 2015 she has been working
at Robbrecht en Daem architecten.
Nik Naudts
graduated from Ghent University
in 2006 as an architectural
engineer. Since 2011 he has
worked at Architecture
Workroom Brussels, where he
was the lead expert for projects
including the exploration of the
future Metropolitan Coastal
Landscape 2100 and the
Oost-Vlaams Kerngebied.
Sigita Simona Paplauskaite
studied architecture at Vilnius
Gediminas Technical University
and holds a master’s degree
in landscape architecture from
Kingston University London.
After eight years of artistic and
professional practice, she joined
the team of the Brussels Government
Architect in 2019 to manage
the Urban Maestro project.
Véronique Patteeuw
is associate professor at
the École Nationale Supérieure
d’Architecture et de Paysage
de Lille and editor of Oase. Her
research focuses on the theory
and history of architectural
publications in relation to the
history of the postmodern.
She has been a visiting professor
at kuleuven since 2019.
Chloë Raemdonck
is trained in the conversion and
restoration of protected heritage
and its durability issues. She has
worked at restoration firms
such as Origin Architecture and
Engineering, Callebaut Archi -
tecten and juxta. As a project
architect for the Ghent Urban
Development Company
(sogent), she became skilled at
project management and public
clientship.
Bart Tritsmans
teaches at the University of
Antwerp. He obtained a PhD in
history (University of Antwerp
and architectural engineering
(Vrije Universiteit Brussel) in
2014. His research focuses on
the historical evolution of urban
green spaces. He is a former
head of exhibitions at the
Flanders Architecture Institute.
Pieter T’Jonck
is an architect. He writes on
architecture, the visual arts and
the performing arts for several
Belgian and foreign newspapers
and magazines. He works for
the Klara radio station and was
editor-in-chief of a+ in 2017.
Michiel Van Balen
is a civil engineer and architect.
He worked as an architect and
urban designer before he started
the coordination of the adaptive
reuse project of De Hoorn. In
2017 he co-founded Miss Miyagi.
Serafina Van Godtsenhoven
studied philosophy at Ghent
University and completed
an international master’s programme
in Urban Studies at
vub, ulb and ucm (es),
University of Copenhagen (dk)
and Universität Wien (at).
In 2019 she joined Architecture
Workroom Brussels as a researcher
on ‘The Great
Transformation’.
Carmen Van Maercke
obtained her master’s degree in
architectural engineering
(option: urban design) at Ghent
University in 2013. She joined
Architecture Workroom
Brussels in January 2016, where
she is project leader for innovative
projects relating to
unsealing, integrated and sociospatial
projects, and water.
Guillaume Vanneste
is an architectural engineer,
researcher and teacher at
the Faculty of Architecture,
Architectural Engineering
and Urbanism of the Université
Catholique de Louvain
(loci-uclouvain). He is a
founding partner of vvv
architecture urbanisme.
A+ Architecture In Belgium
Bimonthly bilingual magazine, ISSN 1375–5072, Volume 47 (2020) N6
Editorial team
Editor-in-chief
Lisa De Visscher
Deputy editor-in-chief
Eline Dehullu
Guest editor
Roeland Dudal
Production coordinator
Grégoire Maus
Translation and copy-editing
Patrick Lennon
Graphic design
Kritis & Kritis
Typefaces
GroteskRemix & Starling
Printing
Die Keure, Bruges
Front cover image
BC Architects and Studies,
Circular and modular production
hall, Brussels © Thomas Noceto
Back cover image
Commons Lab, Travelling forest
garden, Antwerp, 2020
Content page image
BC Architects and Studies,
Circular and modular production
hall, Brussels
Artistic committee
Gilles Debrun
Pauline Fockedey
Nicolas Hemeleers
Kelly Hendriks
Véronique Patteeuw
Hera Van Sande
Guillaume Vanneste
Ward Verbakel
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8 a+287
Building bridges
Hanne Mangelschots, Serafina Van Godtsenhoven
We are facing enormous global ecological and economic
challenges these days. Climate change and exponential
population growth are putting huge pressure
on society. The demand for other forms of housing,
working and living is growing, the call for change is becoming
louder and louder. The architectural and building
practice has evolved in step with this demand for
change. But the necessary turnaround is happening
too slowly. We need an architectural practice that
goes that extra mile, that uses spatial design as a lever
to accelerate social transitions. In short, we need
an architectural practice that drives change rather
than one that adapts to change.
© Architecture Workroom Brussels for You Are Here 2018
The Delta Atelier, a
knowledge-sharing
and action platform,
grew out of 50
practices in the
Netherlands and
Flanders, 2018

a+287 Designing processes for acceleration
9
One swallow doesn’t make a summer. One
car-free street doesn’t lead to fewer traffic jams
or deaths. One low-energy renovation doesn’t
make the energy transition affordable. One
agro-ecological farm doesn’t make our diet
healthier and more sustainable. One caring
neighbourhood project doesn’t lead to a more
inclusive care system. One make-and-learn
hub that gives newcomers access to the labour
market doesn’t solve unemployment. Wonderful
initiatives are being taken on each of these
fronts, but many of them feel like exceptions
rather than the rule. The major social goals – in
terms of nature and climate, solidarity and affordability,
sustainability and economic resilience
– seem a long way off. The policymakers
formulating long-term objectives often fail to
explain what exactly we need to do differently
today. There is a missing link: a tremendous
gap between where we are now and where we
want to be. And we are all wondering how on
earth we are going to get there together.
© Architecture Workroom Brussels
for IABR–2018 and You Are Here 2018
The Missing Link
between a
multitude of local
initiatives and
ambitious
objectives. We are
hitting both a glass
roof and a glass
floor.
Social innovation and the design of our urban
landscape go hand in hand. It is the new
arrangements between policymakers, citizens,
civil society, experts and social practices that
shape our environments. Think, for example,
of the impact of Ringland on the infrastructure
debate in Antwerp, the contribution of
an action group such as Filter Café Filtré to
the creation of school streets (see a+278) or
the BoerenBruxselPaysans initiative that gives
short-chain farmers access to land on the outskirts
of Brussels (see a+282). It is clear that
the range of actors weighing on the changes in
our living environment is widening. Moreover,
these projects show that social transitions are
not only major planning assignments, but grow
out of small scale initiatives as well. We need
to start thinking of solutions as a multitude of
concrete interventions in our homes, streets
and neighbourhoods.
The role of the
architectural practice
The architectural and building practice is evolving
in accordance with the changing demand.
Buildings are becoming increasingly energyefficient,
circular construction is becoming the
norm, developers are offering neighbourhoods
instead of dwellings, grey squares are becoming
green-blue oases in the city, care district
centres are seeing the light of day, libraries and
museums are becoming meeting places. But
isn’t it so that the necessary turnaround is happening
much too slowly? The contribution of
the architectural practice needs to go much
further. Today there is a tremendous opportunity
to use spatial design as a lever to accelerate
social transitions. This can be done by representing
the positive qualities that change can
bring about. By demonstrating how solutions
can be tackled interdependently – and in one
and the same space. By bringing future design
issues into focus and actively participating in
new collaborations, new financing models, new
building methods and new social arrangements
that are being tested. That is why we need an
architectural practice that drives change rather
than a practice that adapts to change.
In order to really renew the practice, knowledge
must find its way from the pioneers to the
mainstream actors, from the experts to the

10 Building bridges
a+287
citizens, from the market players to the policymakers.
And vice versa. For this, new communities
are needed that can assist in the sharing
of knowledge and the development of that
practice. Here, the Delta Atelier functions as
a good example. It emerged out of the 2018 Architecture
Biennale in Rotterdam and Brussels
as a network of more than 50 practices from
Belgium and the Netherlands. During the last
Delta Atelier Conference – which took place
digitally on 3 June 2020 – architects, urbanists,
spatial planners, entrepreneurs, citizens and
policymakers discussed projects concerning
local forms of collaboration, new investment
models and the changing role of government.
They looked at what we can learn from these
‘practices of change’ and how we can support
them as designers.
Ode to the local and the collective
During that conference, Elise Steyaert presented
the citizen collective Klimaan from Mechelen.
At Klimaan, citizens themselves set to work
on the energy transition and the cooperative
members invest in future-proof solutions for
local projects, such as installing solar panels
at the town hall and library. Whereas we are
usually in the habit of tackling major tasks
with big gestures: huge wind farms, new metro
lines or sturdy dikes, an important part of the
necessary change will have to be realized at
all levels of our system. In other words: in our
neighbourhoods, streets and houses. There is
a growing tendency among citizens, such as
the members of Klimaan, to take the right to
make decisions about their living environment
into their own hands: they are assuming a new
role as active co-producers of their neighbourhoods.
In this way, citizens are firing up the
democratic potential of the transitions.
Yet Klimaan has indicated that they want to
and can go further than small-scale projects:
what if we can extend these new organizational
models to the regular market?
Within the prevailing logic, governments
issue commissions aimed at companies. As a
result, citizens do not have the opportunity to
position themselves as equal partners. From a
traditional perspective, they are merely users
of an end product: consumers. But they know
the local needs and opportunities like no other.
In order to create a level playing field in
which citizens (or ‘commoners’) can also be
shareholders – are able to invest, participate
in management, make decisions – other types
of assignments need to be formed. In this way,
the authorities can create frameworks for a
changing society. We must dare to organize
a skewed playing field in which citizens can
claim an active role.
From Mechelen to Rotterdam. In a Huis van
de Wijk (House of the neighbourhood), local
residents themselves set up a place where they
can meet others. The Prinsenhof, for example,
is located in a Rotterdam neighbourhood that
is steadily being confronted with an ageing
population and therefore with challenges relating
to care, housing and social isolation.
The Huis van de Wijk acts as a care hub, where
people can fall back on formal support such as
the provision of cheap meals at home or guidance
to the labour market, but also on more
informal networks between local residents.
The project relies almost entirely on volunteers.
This ensures a high degree of ownership
among users, as they themselves contribute
what they think is needed. Many of the transitions,
no matter how grand they may seem,
must ultimately be realized on a human scale
and cannot simply be rolled out from the top
down. Whenever the link is made with their
own ambitions and needs, people are willing to
commit themselves. We will need this activist
potential to give shape to major changes in a
human and social manner. How will experts,
designers and authorities find a way to support
this multitude of emerging, decentralized initiatives?

a+287
Designing processes for acceleration
11
It is certain that we need new intermediate
roles to build bridges: system negotiators, underground
managers, ‘manoeuvrerers’, brokers,
network managers, facilitators. When
shaping transitions on a neighbourhood scale,
you need to be able to trace, look over the fences
and link up where possible. Here it is crucial
to expose an area’s dna. In the context of the
energy transition, the need for district ambassadors
is being discussed: representatives who
are themselves rooted in the neighbourhood,
who are in contact with neighbourhood organizations
and private individuals, who are
trusted by the residents. This role can never
be played by a company or government. In
the same way, we see district directors emerge
who can facilitate the socialization of care or
act as matchmaker between businesses in the
context of a circular economy. Taking up this
role takes time but is strictly essential.
New business models
The transitions require a multitude of concrete
interventions in our living environment. To
this end, we must also look for new agreements
and financing models. An exemplary project
is the Woongenootschap (Housing association)
in Rotterdam. This group of architects
is committed to affordable housing in the city
centre. They argue that we need to move away
from the idea that real estate is a revenue model
and that you can become rich purely through
ownership. We need to look at housing rather
as a utility model that everyone is entitled to.
How does it work? By buying a share, you become
a member of a cooperative society and
this gives you the right to use the property. The
cost of the share you put in at the beginning is
something you take out when you leave. In this
case, the added value you get does not lie in
the financial return but in access to affordable
housing. This ‘community economy’ seeks a
business model that pays off for society and not
just for a big investor. It is about keeping profits
local. But this housing model cannot simply be
plugged into the existing system. You have to
look at its profitability in the long term: rent
will initially be higher, but will remain stable
over the years. It is only after 15 years that costs
will fall in relation to the rising prices on the
property market. Without a framework provided
by the authorities, this type of project
cannot break out of its niche.
↑
Klimaan members’
day, climate alarm
and sustainable
celebration,
Mechelen, 2019
The principle of an atomic financing model
such as that of Klimaan or the Woongenootschap,
as the sum of many smaller parts,
can also be applied on a larger scale. After all,
many citizens have dormant money in their
banks, which now yields almost nothing. These
little bits can be gathered in a fund with which
you can pre-finance the necessary transitions
– think of the renovation of many outdated
dwellings and the installation of solar panels.
In this way, you take away the worries of citizens
who do not have the money or the decisiveness
to take the initiative themselves. They
pay the same energy bill until the investment is
repaid with a slight added value. After about
ten years, they get a better house and their
electricity bill drops. Moreover, this allows
the government to realize its stated objectives

12 Building bridges: designing processes for acceleration
a+287
in a co-creative manner. If governments were
to make these investments tax-deductible, the
investors would have more impact and more
return with their dormant capital than if their
money stayed in the bank. It sounds logical.
But it requires a complex interplay of local
and supralocal stakeholders in which local
networks, district ambassadors and stimulating,
framework-providing authorities each play
their part.
The next big thing will be
a lot of small things
How do we activate the bottom-up energy into
a swarm of projects that speed up change?
After all, we can see that things need to be
tackled in many places at the same time, and
preferably together, so that they reinforce each
other. Together, the provided examples form
a call, not only to designers to conceive new
projects and processes, but to new coalitions,
new arrangements between supra-local authorities,
municipalities, businesses and citizen
organizations that can implement the necessary
change in many places at the same time.
Parts of this new approach are already taking
shape in some places. Too often, however, the
above examples remain exceptions to the rule,
while we need the systematic and structural
roll-out of future places if we wish to achieve
our objectives.
This is where platforms such as the Delta
Atelier come to the fore. They are eager to
bundle and link disseminated knowledge and
initiatives and to represent the potential impact.
These learning environments can serve
to string together many ground-breaking but
– in the light of the major challenges – small
initiatives so as to form an ambitious movement.
This article was written by Architecture Workroom Brussels on
the basis of conversations with Mariska Vogel, Ronald van der
Heijden, Elise Steyaert, Arie Lengkeek, Koen Schoors, Jandirk
Hoekstra, Philippe Vandenbroeck, Hans ten Hoeve, Jan Verheeke,
Koen Wijnants, Joost Schrijnen, Eric Corijn, Bob
D’Haeseleer and Floris Alkemade (by order of appearance
during the online Delta Atelier Conference on 3 July 2020).
More info: www.deltaatelier.eu
© Thomas Legreve for the Delta Atelier
Delta Atelier
Conference 2019 in
the Atelier
Bouwmeester

THE
GREAT
TRANSFORMATION
Ambitious goals are more than
abstract points on the horizon.
Every house, every street, every
neighbourhood and every landscape
matters. ‘Future places’ are the
biggest transformation project
of our times. Let’s pool our
capacities to multiply change.
Together we build a library of
strategies, a set of investment
programs, and a festival
of ‘future places’.
thegreattransformation.eu
The Great Transformation is an initiative of a growing group of actors with diverse expertise and social positions. We want to materialize and accelerate
the transition to a resilient society, by combining the insights and strengths of entrepreneurs, investors, governments, researchers and civil society, and
translating them into concrete future projects and investment programs. The initiative is facilitated by Architecture Workroom Brussels, with the support
of the Flemish Government, the Brussels Capital Region and the Dutch National Government

a+287
A+ Architecture in Belgium
115
2021
In 2021 A+ Architecture in Belgium will publish
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5 standard issues per year
Recent projects + Interviews + Latest news (in 2 languages fr and nl, 2 separate editions)
A+288 The House: A High-Performance Machine
February–March 2021
A+289 The Return of Craftsmanship
April–May 2021
A+291 Kids: School’s Over, Let’s Play!
August–September 2021
A+292 Oversize: Adaptive Reuse
October–November 2021
A+290 Domesticating Public Space
June–July 2021
A+293 A+ Brussels Prize for Architecture
December 2020–January 2021
1 special issue per year
Projects + Thematic articles (in 1 language en, 1 edition)
Subscribe online at a-plus.be/nl/abonnement

116 a+287
288
The House:
A High-
Performance
Machine
Housing is about more than just
choosing between a house or an apartment,
in the city or outside. The housing
question encompasses spatial quality,
densification and affordability. A+288
features projects that testify to a certain
experimentation with the housing
dream or from which it appears that the
architect has questioned the usual housing
typology. With projects by, among
others, Générale, BuroBill, Philippe Vander
Maren, and Doorzon.
© Dieter Van Caneghem
↑
Architectenbureau
Bart Dehaene,
Social housing
Schaerdeke,
Lo-Reninge, 2020
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We are at a tipping point in history. Never before have we faced so
many major changes in such a short period of time: global warming,
biodiversity loss, energy transition, health crisis, inequality,
population growth, and so on. This special issue of a+ presents
architectural practices that are driving this transition rather than
adapting to it, using spatial design as a lever to accelerate change.
With projects by, among others, 51n4e, bc Architects and Studies,
Dethier Architectures, Miss Miyagi, nu architectuuratelier,
ouest architecture and Rotor dc.
In collaboration with