About
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Lead Expert

Els Vervloesem

Els Vervloesem (° 1978, Leuven) is an architect, researcher, publicist and partner at Architecture Workroom Brussels. She graduated in 2001 as an architect from the Henry van de Velde Institute in Antwerp and in 2004 completed the post-initial Masters in Human Settlements at KU Leuven. From 2001 to 2005 she worked as a freelance architect at various architecture firms, including Luc Deleu and B-architects. From 2006 she worked as a researcher and teacher at the KU Leuven  OSA research group and at the Architecture faculty of TU Eindhoven. In 2019, Els completed her doctoral research on the complex interaction between urban design and bottom-up urban development, with a focus on migration and the associated inclusion and exclusion processes. In 2015 she became a partner at Architecture Workroom Brussels.

 

Els deliberately works at the interface of theory and practice. She explicitly approaches architecture, urban design and spatial transformation processes from a socio-spatial perspective. In addition to scientific research into the public space, (social) housing, urban spaces and the agency of various types of city makers, she wants to actively contribute to translating necessary change processes into practice through her work at Architecture Workroom Brussels. The main focus of her work at AWB is socio-spatial studies. She works in constantly changing relationships with designers, urban planners, sociologists, pedagogues and anthropologists. As a project supervisor, Els is the driving force behind various projects and processes, in which major social challenges in the field of urbanisation, demographic developments and care and welfare issues are linked to intricate research and a process-oriented approach. Special attention is devoted to qualitative design and the involvement of the many parties that form part of the city. Through debates and publications, Els is involved in the social debate, with a specific focus on the role of design. She also assists local governments, public and private developers in the elaboration of complex projects and processes at various levels (building, neighbourhood, city, region) to use space as a lever for social change based on a substantiated vision and shared ambitions.

 

Contact
evervloesem [​at​] architectureworkroom.eu  
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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.