ALTER

BANK DAY BED 3/4 Born from precious finishing materials sourced last autumn from Marcel Lambrichs’ historic De Ligne building (formerly the Dexia bank), this piece is a study in instinctive design. Curved wooden elements that once followed the shape of the building were carefully removed from the walls and placed horizontally on a base made from repurposed metal lockers from AB concert hall. To preserve the original components and allow for easy disassembly, the elements are assembled with minimal cutting, relying on a fully mechanical assembly. The object functions as seating or a daybed to support resident artists and visitors discovering a new exhibition. Two daybeds were specifically designed to be joined together into one giant daybed to create a large surface for shared uses, gathering, resting, and partying. Sourced and made for @reset.atelier 
Thanks for trusting the process @abruptfestival @reset.atelier @brussels.house.milan @hub.brussels @milan.design.week   #MilanoDesignWeek #MDW2026 #brusselshouse #CircularDesign #alter

NITESHOP a project by ALTER and BAUKREISEL Horst Art & Music Festival 2025, Asiat Park, Vilvoorde, Belgium. The Niteshop of Asiat Park is an eighty five square metre renovation by Alter and Baukreisel, developed as an informal meeting place for young people and creative initiatives in Vilvoorde, with the support of organisations such as OverKop and ROJM. Located at the intersection of park pathways, the project reactivates a previously neglected interior and was used as a hub for encounters and artistic activities during Horst Festival. The existing space was stripped of partitions and false ceilings to create a flexible open plan. Two volumes were retained and transformed: a former masonry storage cube now functions as an acoustically insulated radio booth, while the toilet volume was compacted and newly clad. Reclaimed curtains, a movable bar and an enclosed room allow different spatial configurations. The project is based on principles of circular construction and urban mining. Alter and Baukreisel worked with reused materials salvaged from a former administrative building in Brussels, involving volunteers throughout the process of dismantling, design and construction. The Niteshop stands as a collective, hands on experiment in reuse, adaptability and informal cultural production. @alteralteralteralter @baukreisel Credits Author(s): Alter, Baukreisel Year: 2025 Typology: Community kiosk Location: Asiat Park, Vilvoorde, Belgium Participants of the workshop: Marion De Bie, Beatrice Leone, Eirini Pantelidou, Lou Van Hende, Gust Huybens, Johanne Pook, Elli Braunholz, Chiara Pezzetta, Loïs Weber, Len Heugebaert, Jakob grabher, Mathieu Beaucarne, Myriam Volckaert, Emile Marlein, Noor Petermans, Christof Ritter, Gloria Rossi, Danny Liu. Thanks for trusting the process: Horst Arts & Music @horstartsandmusic Asiat Park @asiatpark Onkruid @onkruid.studio Baukreisel @baukreisel Halfwerk @halfwerk_ Elias Bonneux @eliasbonneux CONSCIENT Peinture Naturelle @beconscient Gert Bouquiaux @g_bqx Ph. credits: 1, 2,3,4,5, Eline Willaert @elinewillaert , 6, Willem Mevis @willem.mevis , 7, Julien Janssens @mosestheposer , 8, 9, 10, ALTER @alteralteralteralter #opencall #arch

BIG TABLES @placenoord , Brussels, Summer 2025 2/4 35,000 m² of bare concrete and wind. A new gathering point in the middle of the Northern District towers. The installation consists of two main tables. A high table for standing and a lower one with steps made from @coliseum.construction reclaimed concrete blocks. All surfaces are « Vetisol Cristo » terrazzo slabs from @rotordc , durable materials chosen to last. The construction is straightforward and the structure can be completely disassembled: no glue or screws required. The entire structure is held together by gravity, stacking, and black tension straps, making it easy to take apart and move to another location. The long size of the tables unlocks a vast social potential, allowing for multiple uses: from hosting barbecues and community events for the district to serving as a catwalk for events or a setting for cosy dinners. Success depended entirely on the Alter community and the volunteers. It took a massive collective effort to move, stack, and strap these tons of material into place. Participants Danil @danil_oort Marion @noeibie Matilda @ Monica @monicadllacqua Len @ Ilyas @ilyasch2 Gianni @hellowalkscapes Felix @_felixschroeder Pooja @beboosherchan__ Elke @elkeschoonen Antonia @xantoxnia Sara @dragomirsara Yu Shan Chen @yyushannn Siene @siene_vanesser Sander @sander_wallays Arthur @gupr_art Michele @mmichelozzo Joséphine @joseppe_99 Curator @paulineomnes Sourced and made for @place_noord Thanks for trusting the process. @rotordc @rotor_brussels @coliseum.construction #rotordc #reuse #industrialdesign @industrialkonzept @dezeen @paradeigma__

What we could have been Stage recidency hosted by @51n4e at @track.brussels 7-9 December 2024 3/4 As part of the STAGE residency at 51N4E, the community of Alter transformed the space available into a temporary laboratory by designing and building an exhibition entirely from reclaimed materials coming from past projects and deconstruction sites. After a workshop weekend with the precious help of volunteers and the community of Alter, a scenography composed of seats, low tables and two couches was designed with reclaimed materials and de-construction finds. To further extend the reflection towards a theoretical approach, too, Alter hosted a panel discussion with Collectif Dallas, Yakafokon, Degré 47 and Pauline Lefebvre, active Brussels based initiatives on the question of reuse, craft, empowerment and other ways of practicing architecture between thinking and making, designing and building. Thanks for trusting the process. Photos credits @sepidehfarvardin #ArchitecturalProcess #ReuseMaterials #CollectivePractice #workshoparchitecture #altercollective

CCN SLAB Gare du Nord, Brussels - Summer 2025 1/4 A familiar storyline of the capitalism system : demolish to rebuild. The Centre Communication Nord (CCN), a brutalist landmark from the 1970s, was fully dismantled in early 2025 after 3 years of deconstruction and asbestos removal. What remains is a tabula rasa, a cleared surface ready once again for speculation. The Northern Quarter has long been a laboratory of Bruxellisation: entire neighborhoods erased in favor of mono-functional office towers, prioritizing private interest over public life. Streets became corridors, plazas became voids, and the city was scaled to capital rather than bodies. Before the construction of the controversial new complex towers begins, this project temporarily takes up the plaza. Instead of enclosing the vast rooftop left by the demolition, the intervention grounds it, reclaiming it as a public ground for two years. Suspended between two capitalistic moments, this opportunity proposes a shift in scale and narrative: from private interest to public interest, from extraction to encounter. The installation interrupts the logic of permanent development by introducing movement, pause, vegetation, and collective use — privileging human and non-human presence over efficiency and profit. Changing the narrative means occupying the gap, refusing the inevitability of the next tower, and asking what a city could be when space is treated as a common rather than a commodity. Thanks for trusting the process. Curator @paulineomnes Credits archives SNCB/NMBS #UrbanTransition #NorthernQuarter #Bruxellisation #GareDuNord #UrbanCommons

PATTERN AS TRESHOLD 2/4 The flexibility of the Reset Atelier HQ lies in its raised floor, composed of 60×60 Lindner tiles forming a structural grid. Working with what was already there, ALTER shifted the focus to the ground. The floor becomes a large carpet that redefines the spatiality of the alcoves. By flipping selected tiles, a motif appears, like a form of marquetry, articulating the open plan into distinct atmospheres without enclosing it. A geometric sequence unfolds, connecting the whole space through rhythm and movement.   Thanks for trusting the process @abruptfestival @reset.atelier

What we could have been Stage recidency hosted by @51n4e at @track.brussels 7-9 December 2024 2/4 STAGE is the founding project of Alter. The residency constituted a decisive condition by enabling the emergence of a self-initiated commission. This autonomy made it possible to articulate and test a coherent framework of values through direct action. Materials were gathered from active construction sites, diverted from disposal, as well as vegetal elements salvaged from areas destined to disappear due to forthcoming developments. These elements formed the ground of a workshop condition. Rather than aiming for a predetermined architectural construction, the project established an open framework for creative experimentation and collective engagement. The project affirms the primacy of process, its organisation, logistics, and the potential embedded in reused materials, over the production of a finished object. Architecture is approached as an evolving situation rather than a fixed outcome. The residency granted access to the Track space, which was occupied in an opportunistic and uninhibited manner. This led to continuous exploration of the site’s possibilities, ongoing maintenance in response to intensified use, and shared moments of everyday collective life, shaped by incidental encounters with passersby from Gare du Nord. Thanks to all participants! #ArchitecturalProcess #ReuseMaterials #CollectivePractice #WorkshopArchitecture #altercollective

La marmite mobile des Marolles 2/3 Over many weekends, the team transformed this second-hand trailer into a mobile kitchen, giving it a new identity with blue HPL panels sourced by @rotordc and a fully extendable worktop made from reused Betonplex from @atelier_circuler , topped with stainless steel. To keep our neighbourhood chefs safe, the whole setup is sheltered under a blue umbrella. Follow @marmite.mobile for more! A project supported by Inspirons le Quartier and Plan Climat. @bxllaville @environment.brussels #mobilekitchen #foodtrailer #designbuild #reusedmaterials #communitykitchen

Yo te vi a ti @uncleisaa & @alteralteralteralter with @baptiste.chatenet , Bruxelles

Chrome entrance 1/4 The scenography is introduced by a chrome low table, seating elements and a coat rack. After validating the mock-ups, we completed a careful assembly and surface restoration to bring back the metal’s reflective finish. The project is based on forgotten materials found in the basement of the former Dexia headquarters, now home to Reset. Alter was commissioned to design the new scenography for Reset.Atelier during Abrupt Festival. From this inventory, we shaped the agora as a constellation of distinct spaces defined by light, perspective and use. The furniture and structures come from selecting, assembling and recomposing these recovered elements into seats, tables and scenographic pieces. The aim is not to create a fixed interior, but a flexible and evolving environment that adapts to its users. Thanks for trusting the process @abruptfestival @reset.atelier

WOODEN LEFTOVERS  The removal of glulam trusses from a former riding school in Liège, reused at the Recypark in Anderlecht by @51n4e and @rotordc , generated a number of offcuts. Kept by Alter for potential reuse, these pieces were cut into identical modules to make furniture such as a long coffee table and a seat, created as part of Alter’s « What we could have been » project during Stage’s first residency at @track.brussels . Their stacking, initially motivated by storage constraints, then led to the design of a new seat presented at @labiennale for the Venice Biennale for the presentation of the Recypark project by 51N4E.  Transport from Brussels to Venice and assembly on site was handled by Alter. __ La dépose des fermes en lamellé-collé d’un ancien centre équestre à Liège, réemployées au Recypark d’Anderlecht par @51n4e et @rotordc , a généré un ensemble de chutes. Conservées par Alter pour une potentielle réutilisation, ces pièces ont été découpées en modules identiques afin de fabriquer des meubles tels qu’une longue table basse et un siège, réalisés dans le cadre du projet « What we could have been d’alter lors de la première résidence de Stage à @track.brussels . Leur empilement, d’abord motivé par des contraintes de stockage, a ensuite conduit à la conception d’une nouvelle assise présentée à @labiennale pour la Biennale de Venise pour la présentation du projet Recypark par 51N4E.  Le transport de Bruxelles à Venise et le montage sur site a été opéré par Alter. Pictures by : 2 @rotordc 4 @sepidehfarvardin 8, 15 @dieterleyssen

Expérimentation d’opus, granito et terrazzo à partir de gravats de chantier. Mars 2025 4/4 Échantillon Dans le cadre de la SIP.25 au LaboNord, organisée par @facultearchitectureulb et @archiurbain_by_misteremma , Alter s’est inspiré de la recherche du « Béton de Plâtre » initiée par @_cigue . À partir du plâtre récupéré dans les gravats, re-cuit puis recoulé avec des agrégats de déconstruction (tuiles, béton, verre, briques), une vingtaine d’étudiant·e·s ont imaginé leurs propres recettes. Une série d’échantillons 15 × 15 × 4 cm a été par chaque étudiant, formant un panel empirique des possibles en termes de résistance et durabilité. Étudiants Riad Allia Camille Augusto Claverie @camille_a_c_ Mohamed Bouzahzah Ambroise Cail @_ambroise_c Corto Cavarroc @corto_cvc Osman Demiray Mya Ennassef @myms.1 Elena Floris Lucas Jamois Louis Jardinet Mohammed Laarif Juliette Letuillet @juiettel Pierre-Elie Mahussier @pe_mahussier Mathilde Predella Lino Tzschentke Lucie Van Wijck Ciana Verschure @ciana_verschure Enya @enya971 — As part of SIP.25 at LaboNord, organized by @facultearchitectureulb and @archiurbain_by_misteremma , Alter has been inspired by the research on “Béton de Platre” led by @_cigue , together with about twenty students, using plaster recovered from the site’s rubble. Like the gardeners of the murs a peches in Montreuil, the plaster is re-fired to be poured a second time, with aggregates from deconstruction (tiles, concrete, glass, bricks). Each student developed their own recipe to produce a 15 × 15 × 4 cm sample which, together, form an empirical panel of possibilities in terms of resistance and durability. #architecture #design #archilovers #materialresearch #architectureresearch #plaster #reemploi #reusedmaterials #upcycling #circulareconomy #materialexperiment #SIP25 #AlterCollectif #facultedarchitectureULB #archiurbain