This graduation projects aims to raise a discussion around the urgency of restoring connection between humans and nature, especially in our current day cities. Dealing with a post-industrial site in Brussels that turned into an accidental nature reserve, it tries to mediate between the need for housing and the importance of nature in cities. It proposes a program of nature education, where education becomes a missing link between the city and the landscape, adopting the landscape as a botanical garden of sorts. In a spatial sense, it tries to form a connection between the city and the landscape through a sequence of different defined garden spaces, transitioning from an urban architectural language into a more rural expression.

The site of this year’s Urban Architecture graduation studio was the Friche Josaphat. This is a terrain vague of 24 hectares in the northeast of Brussels, in the neighbourhood of Schaerbeek. In the 1920’s a marshalling yard was built on the site, however when marshalling yards were not needed anymore in the 1990s, it closed. It was cleaned and covered with sand and is now overgrown with vegetation. The program I proposed is located on the northwestern border of the Friche where it is bordered by a stretch of trees, behind which lays a long row of houses.
At one point this row of buildings leaves a gap which opens up the border of the Friche. Because of this gap and the big unused space, this site has the potential for a sequence of spaces connecting the neighbourhood and the Friche with a small public square and a front square.
The motion of the sequence and the sequence of spaces sparked my interest early this year. Therefore the research that I did throughout the year focused on understanding sequences, not only in architecture, but also in other art disciplines. To understand what makes existing urban spaces with sequences work well and liveable, I explored the sequence of spaces of four sites that illustrate a sequence. These are often spaces that have evolved over time and have gradually developed into comfortable spaces to be in.
Furthermore, I researched art disciplines that use sequences such as music, dance, film and animation. In these disciplines anticipation and suspense are often created to evoke a certain feeling in the spectator. Through this research, I wanted to explore how this could be translated into architecture. This resulted in the choreography of a new sequence of spaces made of the features that I found in the different sites I analysed, as well as the findings into the creation of anticipation and suspense in other art disciplines.
This choreography ultimately resulted in the composition of a sequence of spaces in my design, which consists of a connecting street, a small public square, a front square, an entrance with a sightline, a garden on the hill and the Friche.

As Brussels is struggling with a housing crisis and many eviction problems, I chose a program that provides home and purpose for homeless people and brings the community together through gardening and farming activities. By choreographing this sequence of spaces and creating anticipation and suspense, people in need of a home and others from the neighbourhood can be attracted to the site and brought together. In that way, an intimate, human-scale, and safe space can offer comfort to diverse groups of people.

Inspired by the concept of Heterotopia – a concept first coined by Michel Foucault in 1966, describing ‘other spaces’ – the aim of this project was to question the way metropolitan cities currently deal with ‘The Other’. That is, the human and non-human other. Like its previous function as a marshalling yard, can this year’s Urban Architecture Graduation Studio project site, ‘La Friche Josaphat’ in Brussels, be a place of rearranging? Rearranging the way a city deals with reception of newcomers, as well as the way a city deals with its green spaces.

The studio theme of ‘Last Green in Town’ encouraged us to engage with La Friche Josaphat, an urban wasteland that has grown into a greenfield in the middle of the city. The lack of human engagement has allowed biodiversity to naturally take over the wasteland, creating a wilderness, unknown to the city beyond its borders. Around the Friche, nature exists mostly in conventional forms (parks, gardens, sports fields etc.) which are products of narrow utilitarian approaches, with few exceptions of human-nature synergies. These make it evident that different perceptions of urban nature have produced diverse urban cultures of nature, few of which validate the interdependence of nature and humans while most treat nature as a distinct entity needing a functional purpose.
The thesis roots itself firmly in the ‘as found’ conditions and delves into site-specific research, in an attempt to understand the evolution of the existing urban culture of nature over time. Using this research, the thesis attempts to develop a project that validates the past, sensitively deals with the present 'as found' conditions and situates itself within the site for a symbiotic evolution of humans and nature in the future. The programs evolve from the site, responding to the urban conditions and mediating between the urban and the wild. The community centre brings the urban closer to the wild friche, while the research and education centre undertakes the task of creating and imparting knowledge of the biodiversity within the friche to the people beyond the borders. The programs work in tandem to create a flow of energies between the friche and the city, while carefully allowing sensitive accidental and incidental micro engagements between humans and nature.

Cities have never belonged only to humans, non-humans have always been city dwellers, too. However, the ongoing urbanization and significant usage of natural resources have led to a major impact on climate change and species decay. In the world of the Anthropocene, it becomes essential to engage in a critical re-evaluation of our position as architects, wherein we contemplate the manner in which we design environments to be inherently accessible for all – humans and non-human actors. The increasing belief among city dwellers that humans and non-human entities share a mutually interconnected moral, physical, and spiritual realm indicates a novel aspect in our relationship with non-human beings and life in general.

To engage other-than-humans in the city life, it requires not only spatial change, but a major shift in the way of thinking of to whom the space belongs to. It is a complex task that involve different individuals together by engaging in a dialog and interactive actions. Richard Sennett highlight the challenge that togetherness faces today, when modern politics emphasizes unity and similarity, which often leads to a preference for simple and easily identifiable groups, rather than embracing diversity and complexity.

The Common Ground calls for a space in the city, where humans can reconnect with nature, where embracing diversity is be possible. How to shift the purpose of architecture from being a border for humans and non-human actors to connect them together, while preserving a rich biodiversity existing on the site? The research explores what we all have in common, how we can share the ground, how to create a city of Empathy.

In an abandoned field in Brussels, where different species of plants and animals took over, wasteland ‘Friche Josaphat’ stirs the imagination and opens up many possibilities for the future of this land. This vacant lot is like a ‘hetero-topia’, a place that is extra-ordinary, outside the everyday, an ‘other space’ where things become possible.

The post-war architectural and urban design paradigm’s characteristic trait of spatial and functional determination limits the possibility for spatial adaptation and flexibility in urban spaces, struggling to face ever-steadily occurring social, economic, and climate challenges. In Droixhe - the largest post-war social housing ensemble in Liège, Belgium, the ineffective reach of previously executed housing requalification and increasing mismanagement overlook the urban public space on the housing blocks’ ground level, leading to its progressive deterioration and alienating fixed spatial ambience.
Drawing from the assemblage thinking theory in urban design and the notion of non-static built environments, the thesis project ‘Re:/Dis:/Assembling Droixhe’ incorporates architectural and urban design interventions within the ensemble’s urban ground level, allowing for ever-evolving compositions of elements with changing interrelationships, while challenging the pre-existing Modernist static built entities. Underlining the notion of “the incomplete”, the established design framework suggests the (re-)evaluation and upgrade of existing compositions through flexible building elements, which create the possibility to be critically reviewed and eventually recalibrated over time in response to occurring challenges. Applying a holistic multi-method approach, this design research aims to unveil the potential and challenges of urban transformation in static post-war urban environments as a point of departure to a more community-engaging and environmentally conscious architectural practice.

Places with high densities of people are characterized by an urban infrastructure dependent on the economically efficient movement of people and matter. Moving from one place to another as quickly as possible. In the history of Liège, economic material transfers have led to social transfers. The results are a rearrangement of the social composition & properties, and stress and exhaustion of the people and the earth.

I am of the city but somehow not in it. I am of the earth but somehow not on it.

This design project is reacting to the movements of the place (and its history) and is offering a transitional path leading to a moment of standstill. Preventing exhaustion of both human and earth. The path leads a movement from the time-ruled urban landscape to an open space, where freedom of movement and a different perception of time can be experienced. The composed walk and turning point embody a tension between hovering and grasping, lightness and weight, movement and stillness. The turning point of the path is represented by a light and bright interior space where the physical activity temporarily comes to rest.

The escape from the efficient urban infrastructure creates the possibility of reorientation. This can create awareness to change the relationship between people, and between people and their topographical position. A shift from creating and claiming properties and territories to maintaining a reciprocal relationship.

The street is perhaps the most prosaic of the city’s public realm, allowing us to view the very ordinary practices of life and livelihood – a space to move or pause, to meet friends, post a letter, to buy goods and is composed of an amalgamation of rooms along it. Due to the possibility of maneuvering, it tends to exhibit the external spatial reinforcements taken to mark a person’s position. This makes a street not a linear study but a system of social and spatial labyrinths. Hence, the street gives a peek at not only what was and what is, but also the lived realities of allegiance and participation by understanding the social and cultural formations occurring within itself. This is observed by unfolding the street to understand the levels of interactions (or scenes) within the layers between the building and street.
The thesis focuses on the field between architecture and urbanism, on the domain between public and private. It is an attempt to bring an interactive notion to ‘street’ and its role in the design of urban areas and smaller architecture projects. It aims to reinforce the quality of open space within and between the built structures and the existing corridors by blurring the borders of inside and outside.

‘Design with (addiction) Care’ is a reflection on the role of an architect within the humanization of addiction care, primarily the design of the typology of a hostel. It is deeply rooted in the studio theme of the scarred city, where both the vulnerable scarred urban tissue as well as vulnerable people demand careful architectural reasoning. The thesis combines several methods to obtain an understanding of how architectural decision-making affects the use and experience of buildings over time. Concomitantly it examines how the perspectives of different stakeholders influence the design process. Analyzing the perspectives of architects, residents, managers, social workers, directors, local residents, professors and municipalities has contributed to a reflection on an architect's challenges, limitations and possibilities within our multidisciplinary profession.

This project delves into the transformative potential of human-centric architecture as a catalyst for social connection, urban revitalization, and empowerment in the neighborhood of Droixhe in Liège, Belgium. Drawing inspiration from the collective Les Amis de L'Étang, comprising 15 social organizations, the research explores the concealed narratives behind facades and the daily lives of the communities residing in the neighborhood. Uncovering a pressing need for suitable spaces and housing tailored to the requirements of marginalized women and poorly represented social organizations within the modernistic ensemble of Droixhe, the site specific project proposes a women's house as a multi-functional complex, re-interpreting the role of the public, communal and domestic space. Aiming to promote social safety and empowerment for women, the project at the same time revitalizes and enhances the neighborhood through its public functions, with it's community kitchen as main urban connector. By transcending conventional design paradigms and activating curiosity through architecture, this proposal seeks to invigorate Droixhe, forging a vibrant, inclusive living environment that empowers its inhabitants.

The goal of this research is to create a new understanding of the individuality of the city of Liége, by constructing a “logic of architecture”, a logic rooted in place, through a personal (dynamic) understanding of the site and its people & positioned within architectural theory, presenting a new interpretation. Hence, the design acts as a testsite for the research: testing, validating and showcasing the newfound “logic of architecture”, which is a product of the research process. The research strives to define three key elements (window, entrance, structure) within their autonomous reading as well as the part they play in the social ecology of Bressoux, thereby creating ground for the elements to propose design solutions based on the way they invite human life into their consciousness. Researching construction of the city over time through ordinary elements that give meaning to the city.

In the ever-evolving world of architecture and construction, there is a growing recognition of the urgent need to embrace sustainable and circular practices. As the challenges of climate change and resource depletion become increasingly apparent, architects and designers have a unique opportunity and responsibility to shape the future of our built environment. It is within this context that I followed the Urban Architecture Graduation Studio, leading to my project called "Re:Generation Liège", in wich I aim to reimagine local building culture as a showcase for a circular generation of architecture, while revitalizing an abandoned industrial site.
At its core, "Re:Generation Liège" seeks to challenge the prevailing linear model of resource consumption in our field of Architecture, while trying to create architecture that is culturally fitting, encouraging social life and in symbiosis with nature. By harnessing the principles of circularity and sustainability, this project strives to create a harmonious interplay between human habitation, natural resources, and the surrounding environment.
The city of Liège, with its rich architectural heritage and vibrant cultural identity, serves as the backdrop for this project. By leveraging the unique physical, economic and socio-cultural characteristics of the local context, "Re:Generation Liège" aims to demonstrate how a circular economy can be boosted in this specific context, through showcasing the potential of adaptive reuse, component reuse and reuse-focused public program.

Unappreciated by the public, and ambiguous with its history, Brutalism has its followers, among designers and architects yet it is still a stylistic outcast. La tour de Droixhe, the high-rise at hand, thus, is seen not only as heritage but also as a lonely giant towering over the city of Liège, Belgium. This brutalist social housing development presents itself as an example of many other similar cases across Europe where brutalist buildings are met with discontent from the public and with growing mismanagement, they often face a certain demolition, therefore this project explored both within design and programme why should we save ugly buildings and how to change their fate. Taking on the original message of brutalism as an ethical approach, the project brings in the possibilities of enhancing social cohesion in the case of high-rise housing. Answering the challenges that living off-the-ground creates through designing clusters within the tower working on the premise of cooperative living. Humanising brutalism and reclaiming its aesthetics as unique and worth building on and upon.

This year's urban architecture graduation studio proposes a site specific approach within the district of Bressoux, on the fringe of the city of Liège. Seeking for opportunities in the working class district, after the industry has left the stage, a courtyard on a corner is found. Behind the perimeter wall, basic necessities for those in need are taken care of. A food bank, a restaurant, a social desk, a shower. The project proposes to rethink the collection of functions by adapting the existing masonry structures through carving & grafting. Opening and adding, allowing for new ways of occupation. And then to add something new to the table. Opening the gate for 24h and introducing a shelter and transit home, offering a bed during the night. Scenographic models and drawings are used to design and represent the spaces of the courtyard, as well as the objects & life within them. 

Liège with its post-industrial identity has a long history as an important manufacturing center in Europe for steel making and coal mining. However, the segregation between production and the city, has made the industry detached from the urban condition and the everyday life. Today, whilst new urban productive typologies were spotted in Liège that offered chances for hybrid and innovative making, manufacturing found its root to thrive in the city – and this is what we identified – a new industrial urbanism.

“A good city has industry.”

This design project argues that industry should be part of the city. It aims to develop a new factory type with the involvement of human scale and everyday life in the current urban setting to eliminate segregation between human and machines, and thus suggests a mixed-use program with a focus of work and production.

So, how can production be visible and fit into the city?

The design approach is to go hybrid, to combine production and consumption activities, and to have a closer loop from producers to consumers. The project hopes to achieve a productive co-existence of different functions within a building.

Today’s concerns are not only about how to design a factory building working efficiently as a machine, but also the social aspect of a factory, for example, the human factors which guide the spatial design for circulation and interactions for the workers, neighbors and commuters.

“Made in Liège”, the project is strategically located next to the Bressoux train station entrance area, at the intersection of the railway and a bridge, thereby forming an important urban transition between the industrial area of Droixhe and the neighborhood of Bressoux.

Having a long and linear shape in connection with an existing bridge, the building is almost like a train with many carriages, which you can enter separately, and they have their own identity but still be able to work together. In different carriages, it responds to different researched aspects (productive urbanism, working environment, social interactions) under the topic “Human & Machine”. When different cabinets come together, it becomes a mini city in one building.

This graduation work serves as an academic documentation of my graduation project within the Urban architecture studio, black hill city.
The project aims to investigate and implement architectural interventions to transform the urban structure of the Belgian city of Liége. By focusing on innovative design strategies rather than large-scale urban interventions. More specified to this research. This project focusses on the different senses in architecture and the connection between architecture and urbanism by integrating these different senses in the design.