The Ambition of the Territory – publication – Projects – Architecture Workroom Brussels

On the occasion of The Ambition of the Territory project a publication was issued related to the work of the AWJGGRAUaDVVTAT multidisciplinary team and the synthesis of the workshops of the Atelier Flanders as Design. The publication was presented during the Towards a shared design agenda for Flanders seminar on 8 January in deSingel in Antwerp.

Our current well-being is built on the principle of consumption, of raw materials and goods, as well as land. This land, the territory if you like, therefore serves as the stage for growing conflicts between economic interests, demographic trends and ecological challenges. The Ambition of the Territory exhibition in the Belgian pavilion at the Biennale in Venice advocated for rethinking the entire urbanised territory and provides possible directions for systematically transforming the existing landscape into a more productive whole.

While the current policy classifies the different ways of using space into sectors, The Ambition of the Territory performed research by design into the synergies and shared gains. The interaction between housing, enterprise, food production and energy provides levers for gradually transforming highly urbanised Flanders into a sustainable and thriving region in the European Delta Metropolis.

The Ambition of the Territory is a project by AWJGGRAUaDVVTAT on the initiative of the Flemish Architecture Institute and the Flemish Government Architect Team. Project leader Architecture Workroom Brussels assembled an international and interdisciplinary team comprising the Dutch graphic designer Joost Grootens, the French urban planning agency GRAU, Belgian architects De Vylder Vinck Taillieu and the artist Ante Timmermans.

Type: Publication

Year: 2012-2013

Clients: Flemish Architecture Institute, Flemish Government Architect

Partners: Joost Grootens, GRAU, architects De Vylder Vinck Taillieu and Ante Timmermans

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.