Walking workshop, Food Land. Neerpede. Photo: Bob Van Mol

Our future will be radically different. The shift from fossil to renewable energy, the transition to a sustainable food and mobility system, a circular economy, a caring living environment, and inclusive labour market will be felt in the very heart of our districts, our neighbourhoods, our homes and our streets. We can no longer separate one task from the other. Adapting our (social and spatial) environment is of crucial importance. 

We are already experimenting with all kinds of alternatives that strive for a solution to these transition issues. By connecting and disseminating the strength of the initiative, power of innovation and the implementation of very diverse experiments and initiatives in Brussels in the form of walks, we are trying to make the potential of our immediate living environment more visible. We are in the middle of a social movement, the emerging buds of which are already visible. We want to grasp, support and accelerate them, but above all, we want to make them perceptible and accessible by weaving routes between them. We find that reflecting on the city from behind the drawing board offers little guarantee of success. In urban development research, it is very important to know and understand what is already available. The most sustainable city is not one that still needs to be built, but one that already exists.  

 

Programme 
As part of Archiweek (10-17 Oct)  
 

Wednesday 13/10 - 14h-17h  
An energy transition for everyone - Noordwijk Brussels (FR + NL) 
Guided by Hanne Mangelschots (AWB) (NL) and Roeland Dudal (AWB) (FR) 

Thursday 14/10 - 14h-17h 
Towards more Foodland - Neerpede (Anderlecht) (FR + NL)  
Guided by Bram Vandemoortel (AWB) (NL) and Lene De Vrieze (AWB) (FR)  

Saturday 16/10 - 14h-18h  
Building Blocks for Future Places - Noordwijk-Kanaalzone Brussels (alternating NL / FR) 
Guided by Roeland Dudal (AWB) 

Sunday 17/10 – 14h-17h30  
Themed walk on Future places - Noordwijk Brussels (NL) 
Guided by BrukselBinnensteBuiten 
  

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WORKROOM

Since 2010, Architecture Workroom Brussels has focused on the future of our living environment. The organisation began as a safe haven to address the link between space and societal transitions, aimed at fostering a futureproof design practice, commissioning and building culture.

It has now become evident that the transformation of our streets, neighbourhoods, and landscapes is both a prerequisite and a lever for achieving societal goals in synergy. Yet we observe that these transformations remain difficult to imagine and implement. They span so many sectors and involve so many actors that responsibility falls on everyone, and therefore, ultimately, on no one.

That is why we make it our mission to create the space that connects them. And with this refined mission comes a new name: WORKROOM, House for transformation. WORKROOM is the shared space where the future of our living environment is not only imagined but also organised.

We are currently taking the lead on three mission-driven transformations:

  • SOCIETAL INCUBATORS - By 2030, stakeholders from the youth, culture, sports, care and education sectors will join forces to create renewed societal spaces that tackle loneliness and counteract the fragmentation and pressure on public infrastructure.
  • FOSSIL-FREE NEIGHBOURHOODS - By 2030, at least ten neighbourhoods will be underway with the transition to fossil-free energy in an inclusive and affordable way, with a view to completely phase-out fossil fuels by 2040.
  • SPONGE LANDSCAPES - By 2030, we will have achieved our water, agriculture and nature goals through a single, coherent approach at catchment area level, in which strong regional coalitions collectively enhance the landscape's sponge capacity.

To make these transformations a reality, WORKROOM works shoulder to shoulder with pioneering designers, local authorities, organisations and businesses, governments, knowledge institutions and impact investors.

Through co-creative design, we imagine shared pathways to the future in exhibitions, publications, innovation programmes and public programmes. These are the workrooms where we connect the actors capable of realising these transformations. From there, we design shared ownership and the organisational, funding and policy models that lead to real change.

The name is simpler. The stakes are higher. WORKROOM is the shared space where we tackle the social and spatial transformations that no one can achieve alone. In an era of polarisation, compartmentalisation and instability, that is perhaps the most radical thing we can do.