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Joachim Declerck

Joachim Declerck (1979, Kortrijk) graduated from Ghent University as an engineer-architect. He later followed the international postgraduate course at the Berlage Institute in Rotterdam. He stayed at this institute from 2005 to 2010, where he led the professional research and development programme from 2008 onwards. On behalf of the Berlage Institute, he was co-curator of the 3rd IABR, Power - Producing the Contemporary City (2007) and of the exhibition A Vision for Brussels - Imagining the Capital of Europe (2007).

 

The thread running through Joachim's work is the use of design and spatial development as levers for the realisation of important social transitions. In 2010, together with Roeland Dudal, he founded the European think-tank Workroom for innovation in architecture, urban and territorial development. Workroom is intended as a platform to create the space and conditions for innovative architecture and research by design. He focused on longer strategic lines of work such as visionary housing, productive landscapes, caring neighbourhoods and the productive city.

 

Joachim was curator of the exhibition Building for Brussels - Architecture and Urban Transformation in Europe (2010). He was a member of the curatorial team of the 5th IABR, Making City (2012), of the Belgian pavilion at the 13th Venice Architecture Biennale entitled The Ambition of the Territory (2012), of the double IABR-2018+2020 The Missing Link / You Are Here (2018) and of the Brussels Urban Landscape Biennale: Rising Waters (2018). As atelier master he has beeninvolved in various IABR ateliers: Atelier Brabantstad (2012), Atelier Utrecht (2016), Atelier Rotterdam (2017), and Atelier Oost-Vlaams Kerngebied (2017). Joachim took on the role of programmer and moderator, whether or not as part of the curatorship, for example during Atelier Vlaanderen als Ontwerp (2012-2013), the Designing the Future sessions(2016-2017) and the World Transformation sessions (2018). During these sessions he contributed on the basis of research by design and sharing knowledge to the broad social debate, to professional practice and the development of knowledge, and to the renewal of urban development and policy. Through the Open Space Platform and the Open Space Movement, Joachim helped develop the methodology for setting out transformation programmes. The Water+Land+Scapeprogramme (2017) is the first operational example of this, followed by the Proeftuinen Ontharding (De-sealing pilot projects) (2018, 2019) and the Proeftuinen Droogte (Drought pilot projects) (2019).

 

Joachim has been a guest professor at Ghent University (BE) since 2014.

 

Contact
joachim [at] workroom.org  
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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.