WSW01 KULeuven
From November 3 to November 7, Walkscapes had the chance to take part in the workshop week « Visualising urban narratives: (re)presenting Brussels-North », together with a group of 64 students from
@kuleuven_msarch_urbanproject .
Our proposal for the workshop takes inspiration from two important contestation moments in recent history. On one hand, the “Baltic Chain” of 1989, a peaceful demonstration against the USSR during which two million people joined hands across the three Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. On the other hand, the civil resistance against demolitions and evictions in the North Quarter, best symbolized by the “Niet Panikeren / Organiseren!” (“don’t panic, organize!”) mural painting on Vooruitgangstraat / Rue du Progrès.
Building on this topic of “Contestations in the city”, we conducted a collective walk with the students and brought them to three key locations of the North Quarter : the CCN platform of Place Noord, the WTC III rooftop and the Maximilian Park. We then asked them to join their hands to form three simple shapes - a circle, a square, a line - symbolizing possible future functions for the neighborhood : an agora, a building, and a table. The students got also asked to give their first impressions on the North Quarter, along with proposals showing their visions for the future of the area.
With this as a starting point, we produced 64 A5 posters of « First Impressions » from all the students, 12 A4 letters of « Narratives » from each team, and 3 A3 posters of « Urban Figures », as a restitution of the collective walk of the first day. These elements, together with a collection of objects found in the district, were part of the final exhibition of the workshop week, which took place on Pachecolaan 34.
Thanks to all the students who participated in the workshop, and thanks to Chiara and Nina for the invitation!
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 11, 12 :
@hellowalkscapes
7, 8, 9 :
@baptiste_chauvin 
