Stadsvernieuwing Herman Teirlinck NEWS

The story about the renaissance of the Flemish city is about to come alive again. Our travelling exhibition ‘Stadsvernieuwing is mensenwerk’ (‘Urban renewal is people’s work’) will be on display for the second time – this time in Brussels, from Monday 30 January until Thursday 2 February.

The Government of Flanders created the Stadsvernieuwing instrument in response to the urban exodus in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Through this programme, it invests in urban development projects that contribute to the economic, environmental, and social added value of cities. The instrument provides an impetus for ambitious spatial projects, through grants and expert guidance. Each year, 35 cities can apply for support for concrete projects or concepts.

To celebrate 20 years of Stadsvernieuwing, we developed the exhibition ‘Stadsvernieuwing is mensenwerk’, in which we use imagination to show how the instrument knew to turn the tide for the urban exodus and what its significance could be for Flemish cities in the future. The exhibition, specifically designed to travel along cities in which Stadsvernieuwing caused an urban revival, was first displayed in Lamot, Mechelen, in 2022.

On Wednesday 1 February, the Flemish government is launching a new approach concerning the instrument of Stadsvernieuwing. Therefore, the exhibition will make its second stop in Brussels during this week – it will be on display from Monday 30 January until Thursday 2 February, in the Herman Teirlinck building.

Lene De Vrieze and Alice Devenyns, both part of the curator team, will give a guided tour (NL/EN) on Tuesday 31 January 2023.

Exhibition ‘Stadsvernieuwing is mensenwerk’
> 30 January until 2 February
> Free entrance from 9h00- 19h30
> Guided tour on Tuesday 31 January from 18h30-19h30 –
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> Herman Teirlinck building, Havenlaan 88, 1000 Brussels

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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.