The main subject of the studio is “Spolia”, that can be explained as: “the left-overs or <<spoils>> of a building, which find themselves back in a new structure”[1]. The use of spolia can be economically, ecologically or aesthetically motivated[2]. However, the remains of the previous buildings are not only actual, physical elements with physical value to be assessed, but also the identity, images and atmosphere they create.The given site offers a variety of existing material - in order to answer the studio question of “what to keep?” an analysis and evaluation of existing tissue is needed.Anderlecht, where the site is located, is a bricolage of different identities; a vibrant and diverse community. Blended together are industrial and residential architectural building types of different scales, combined urban tissues of several ages, woven nationalities and entwined religions. With a gradual study of the neighbourhood many stories were unveiled.Those different lifestyles and different values are especially visible in Les Goujons – a mass social housing of enormous proportions and density. Built in 1970s as a solution to a housing crisis, it is now in a state of decay and deterioration. It is a massive project, housing over 900 inhabitants, with 382 apartments spreading over 18 floors. Lacking any human-scale, directed at one social group, designed without any consideration of fostering community or allowing socialization, with age it has gained a not-so-pleasant recognition.Les Goujons is not the only example of 1970s post-war mass housing deterioration. Similar projects of social housing were built all over Europe and world. Majority of them are facing the same problems: partial vacancy, neglect and poor safety condition, short life-span of housing and pauperization of its inhabitants.Housing offers more than just a shelter: it provides stability (both in terms of economics and in terms of peace of mind), feeling of security and a sense of belonging. Current social system does not always foster the situation of those who are in need. Could social housing be designed in a better way?The goal of the project is to propose an alternative for social housing. Haunted by problems such as neglect, vandalization, safety decrease, high turnover rates, the social housing complexes often seem to be a transit accommodation. Les Goujons, the building at the site, is currently experiencing many of those problems. The project will suggest transforming it through means of decreasing its density, modernisation of existing structure and addition of new functions. At the same time, in order to compensate for the lost units and provide more social apartments, a new housing complex will be designed, complementing the existing one. The neighbourhood will gain more residential buildings of better quality, aiming at their longevity. The introduced strategies will impact also the atmosphere of the place, improving its current state.The two parts of the complex will be working together as one, new composition, interlaced in palpable sense of shared scale, building geometry or materiality, but also in imperceptible sense of atmosphere, community and identity.

This research is the result of an ongoing work of search. Throughout this process, research and design have been constantly interwoven together. Initially the research gave clues for the design, which in turn informed the research back. The aim is to position the project toward the city, at different scales. In this act of positioning, the project reveals the problems of the city and tries to address them. This research is presented in form of narrative. The text is divided in four main chapters, each one of which is an essay that deals with different aspects of the project, and contains elements of research, borrowed theories, ideas, quotes and reflections.

During the last century, Brussels transformed into an international capital, a process in which the quality of life of Brussels's own residents was not the first priority. The community of the neighbourhood and the everyday life of the residents became overlooked with the city shining it’s spotlights on the international stage. The neighbourhoods of Brussels become audiences to the city, not the actors.
The neighbourhood is to ignored no longer. Everyday life is a performance. As time passes people work, dwell, consume and express in an ongoing dialogue between the characters of the neighbourhood and the stage sets they perform on. Through staging everyday life value is given to these performances; a spontaneous discussion amongst neighbours, the captivation and amusement of a child, a moment of respite and relief from the city. The careful understanding of the relationship between stage and character puts the people of the neighbourhood in the limelight, their lives become the story to be told that the surrounding city audience should view.
Stage sets of public life are to be engrained into the urban blocks of the neighbourhood, anchoring their worth into the physical form of city and pronouncing their integrity with their embracement of local material and technique. An architecture of modesty is to be achieved, functioning as scenery to the performance, keeping the spotlight on people and their value in creating in the neighbourhood. Future development is going to happen. These stages of public life are fundamental to preserving the character of a place, to ensure the performance of everyday life can go on.
Derived from Latin "spolium" (plural: "spolia"), the term spolia is used in archaeology meaning "spoils" (as in "spoils of war"), booty or loot, typically seen in Greek or Roman architectural sculpture. It refers to the cut stones or decorative elements from older buildings that are re-used for new construction as an economical alternative to quarried stone which was more expensive.
The principle can surpass the re-appropriation of material to that of a defined approach to architecture. The spoils are found in the existing space and form of the built fabric, the traces of memory within evolved site and the everyday routines, use and occupation of the people in their neighbourhood. It’s an approach of attentiveness, with concern for that which exists, with a passion for the task of making something from something. It is a technique of reaction. With thorough observation the existing elements of the site are to be negotiated with, understanding their value and how they can be redefined to benefit the needs of the present.
The value of the neighbourhood needs to be reaffirmed. The stage needs to be set around the people that act immediately upon the city and that give life to its character. Through an architecture of modesty, stage sets of public life can be ingrained into the urban blocks, ensuring their preservation. Through the principles of spolia, value can be discovered in everything and gifted back to the people.
As the film producer Karel Reisz has said, looking back on his work, “It is about wanting what you got, rather than going out and getting what you want.”

The Urban Architecture graduation studio focuses on the topic of spolia, a term from archaeology that defines the leftovers of a building that find themselves back in a new structure. Spolia is about reuse, finding value in what is there, and how it can acquire new meanings by being transformed or relocated. It is also about stratification, of adding layers to a story that continues when the spolia is given a new life. The research focused on time and the unfinished, exploring the relationship between architecture and time. Architecture is subjected to the social forces of time, defined by the change of users and functions over time. Buildings are usually designed to be a finished product, with a specific use, leaving the time factor out of the equation. This often leads to vacancy or underuse, due to the inability of the building to adapt to new uses or undergo a transformation to accommodate new uses. Aiming for the unfinished allows time to take its course. Like spolia, a building can acquire new meanings – or a new life – when transformed. This stratification of layers of time, materials and uses, turns the building into a story that will never be complete, evolving and adapting to respond to occurrences over time.

The essence of the program and of its articulation resides in the duality which exists between the plinth of the block and the tower. The plinth volume, of a pedestrian scale, dedicated to the productive city and the community facilities, forms a base for the existing building. Small scale production spaces which surround a courtyard, construct the industrial filligree of the city. Simulaneously, by conjoining office space as being the domicile of the 21st century economy with small scale industry, alliances and clusters can be formed. Social housing rises up out of this block, transcending the eyeline of the street. This project, as a work/ live configuration, seeks to mediate between the traditional values of Anderlecht’s urban fabric and the boldness of Les Goujons as a product of Brusselization. The contrast between top and bottom is made even more apparent by their different alignments in relation to the site; the base following the street while the upper (existing) volume breaks ties with it. While the south wing of the building is absorbed into an urban block, the north wing redeems a modernist quality it initially never received. It now surrounds itself with public space - giving the building the notion of air, light and space. In the current situation, the plinth is disjointed from the street and public space, it fails to adress the public. The typical Anderlecht block is a mixture of different functions, volumes, shapes and spaces that address a variety of users and engages with the public realm in different ways. But all typical Anderlecht blocks share one quality: They are prourban and serve the traditional city. They are exploited by the resourcefulness of their residents. By absorbing Les Goujons into a newly established Anderlecht block, it takes advantage from these qualities, while simultaneously offering density and social diversity to the city. The inner spaces in the block will provide users the tools needed to build a community, a place to have a seat and enjoy the weather, as well as a space to have a conversation or a stroll. The intermediate zones become buffers; they soften the edges of public space. Without compromising the dramatic and overwhelming aesthetic of Les Goujons, the renovated facade retains the characteristics of the modernist aesthetic. Reused steel mullions and glass curtain wall panels glitter the mirage of Brusselization. The base volume facades instead delineate the townhouse tradition of 19th century Brussels. With a wink at Brussels’ façadism, These facades correspond to this tradition by reproducing the informal elevation of the street; arrhythmic placement of windows and balconies, altering building heights and detailed expression.

The street is a complex socio-physical network that reveals various layers of life in a city: its historical setting, planning, political and economic situation, and cultural mentality. Studying such complexities of social life is important in order to understand the constantly changing identity of space. In the face of globalization, cities are being transformed into similar prototypes of each other and architecture has experienced placeness and loss of identity. Analysis of the context is relevant for the “localization” of new design interventions and it could help to avoid universal design solutions.

The theme of the studio, spolia, is a term from archaeology, which is to place remnants in a new environment. The project started research of a historical river in the city—the Senne in Brussels. The river influenced the urban development of the whole city morphologically and typologically. Interventions regarding the river show how local people treat spolia. The site is also located along the trace of Senne. A typical wall was formed because of the covering the Senne. It indicates the history but also segregates and influences current situations. It serves as such an important role that it should not be easily discarded. It is the spolia for this site. There is a big difference between the two sides of the wall--living and working, nature and the built environment, leisure and production. The urban concept is to reuse the wall to activate the neighbourhood, increase housing and public facilities and remove the productive constructions to the suburban area. The urban regards the wall as the main spolia and returns the centre of the block to the public. The wall frames the public facilities and parks of the community garden. The architectural proposal continues the focus on the wall as the spolia and explores how to treat it on the architectural scale. The project deals with three issues: the urban gestures facing different sides, the combination of the elderly and the children and the reuse of the existing wall. Among these, to reuse and reconfigure the wall intertwine the other two and becomes the main spine of my project. In the architectural scale, the content of spolia can be enriched. The wall is not only a line. It has the thickness; it has structure; it has a function. The wall acts as the perimeter of the project and organizes programs. The two user groups share an event hall and the kitchen. They have visual connections but also have their privacy. The façade intends to remain the solidness of the wall and make the new open and light while ties in with the old. So for the new façade, the frame can open up the courtyard by reducing the mass of the wall. The original texture of the old is remained to highlight the old wall. The façade also uses similar bricks of the old wall but uses different bonding to create a subtle difference between new and old. Especially for the entrance, light and translucent material is applied to the cladding to express an opening of the old. The interior use wood floor and plaster wall to release the heaviness of the texture of the bricks. In conclusion, my project lies partly in the urban solution. It articulates and celebrates an existing wall from urban scale down to materialization. In different stages, the content of the wall is enriched and enhanced.

The project focus on a continuous old wall, which separates the site into two, as the “Spolia”. According to the research on both previous and present urban pattern of the neighborhood, the value of the wall is reflected: it is one of the few remnants of the buried river and a defining character in the sites social manifestation. As a result of interactions with the differing segments of wall, it was renovated again and again and the qualities are variant. The wall acts as connection and separation, nature and built environment, protection and orientation, closure and openness. The intention of the master plan is to create a community oriented block, with the wall connect the newly added public facilities and form a linear landscape run through the whole block, thereby inverting the space along the wall from “back” to accessible “front” to serve the residents living in the neighborhood. The architectural program in the master plan is a public building that consists of a library and a sports center. The meaning of a street corner is also taken into consideration due to the site location. The corner building, works as an entrance of the linear “wall” space. Following the alley along the wall from a street corner, a vivid “front”, represents both a spiritual core of history and cohesion of the neighborhood.

The story started from the invisible river Senne on the urban scale of Brussels, concentrating on the wall which is both spolia on site and the identity of my youth center. The archaeological idea of Spolia keeps me discovering the existing value, then constantly thinking of collecting, composing and re-using. Once existing fragments collide with new ones, the process of bricolage comes up.
The wall on site is the ghost of Senne that could be seen as spolia on immaterial, but now it became the backdrop of people’s lives in the neighborhood, where the youths there are facing issues such as stigmatization. The strategy of the urban proposal and architectural part is to use the wall as a frame to turn the situation from segregation and at the meanwhile to break youths’ mental wall. The old wall owns the collective memory, speaks for space. That’s why the walls teach.

A growing interest in a sustainable reuse of material resources has been encouraged by the urgency of searching for other possibilities that do not weigh on the geo-ecosphere but more on the anthroposphere. Thus, I believe an adaptive sustainable reuse approach could play a decisive role in an urban redevelopment and by stimulat ing new awareness on material reuse, plays a central role in generating new economic, cultural and social values.