Project

BRIDGE

The construction of a bridge between the municipalities of Molenbeek and Brussels had been on the agenda of many policy-makers for a long time, but nothing ever came of it. To demonstrate evidence of the connection a temporary art installation was created with BRIDGE, as part of the four-day Festival Kanal Play Ground.

BRIDGE is a temporary installation that connects the two sides of the Canal Zone in Brussels. The work consists of two tower cranes that are installed horizontally above the water. The result: a bridge that not only serves as a bridge, but is also a statement about mobility, connections, public space and urbanism. Because the bridge is made up of two parts it symbolises the encounter of passers-by on the actual bridge, as well as that of the two parts of Brussels.

The installation not only connects the two quays along the canal, but also changes the relationship of the public space – and thus also that of passers-by – with the water: the canal becomes a central square. As a result, the bridge not only forms a new connection between two public spaces, but also generates a different dynamic on both sides. Gijs Van Vaerenbergh: "Our aim is to demonstrate that you can use industrial materials to quickly create temporary interventions and connect places in the city."

In 2017 and 2018, an improved version of BRIDGE was developed as scenography for Brussels Beach.

Type: Public intervention

Year: 2014


Initiators: Platform Kanal vzw and Architecture Workroom Brussels

Partner: Gijs Van Vaerenbergh

With contributions from: by the suppliers Sarens Kranen, Benelmat, etc., the City of Brussels, the Cabinet of Minister Pascal SMET and the Brussels Regional Administrative Office, Brussels Mobility.

Related Projects
2014: Festival Kanal Play Ground
Related Projects
2012: Canal Plan Brussels
Related Transformations
All Transformations

A Good City Has Industry

A Good City Has Industry, is the provocative title of an exhibition we organised in Brussels in 2016. That was four years ago, when such an idea was tantamount to sacrilege. What do we mean, a city needs industry? Didn't we do our utmost in recent decades to clean up the city and transform abandoned industrial sites into hip, vibrant urban districts? Wasn't our aim to restore the quality of life in cities, free of pollution or the din of trucks? And wasn't our economy irrevocably transformed into a tertiary economy? Manufacturing was something based in low-wage countries, wasn't it?    

 
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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.