On Thursday February 4th the second Urban Meeting of Atelier Productive Metropolis BXL will take place in Brussels.
Following the start of the design research, the design questions that are addressed in the Atelier BXL are confronted with the results of similar research in Rotterdam and Antwerp. Internationally active designers will debate about the importance of space for production in the city and refine the hypothesis of the Atelier.
Lectures by Djamel Klouche (l’AUC - IABR–Project Atelier Rotterdam), Klaas Meesters (project leader Labo XX – Work, City of Antwerp) and Freek Persyn (51N4E, Brussels).
Debate with among others Mark Brearley (CASS Cities, London), Olv Klijn (FABRIC, Amsterdam) and Ward Verbakel (Plusoffice, Brussel) Moderation: Joachim Declerck
picture: Bas Bogaerts
THURSDAY FEBRUARY 4 2016
Time: 18u00 – 20u30
Location: Firma, Schaarbeeklei 636, Vilvoorde, Brussels, Belgium
Language: English
Entrance: free
No registration required.
Atelier Productive Metropolis BXL
The aim of 'Atelier Productive Metropolis BXL' is a better match between the changing economy and the organisation of space for productive activities in the capital city's metropolitan area. How can spatial quality and the urban economy reinforce one another, and who creates the productive city? The Flemish-Brussels metropolitan region has a large number of low-skilled unemployed, while old industrial zones languish in the city and its outskirts. Atelier Productive Metropolis BXL proposes giving these old industrial sites a new lease on life by focusing on attracting innovative production activities. The city as a melting pot of knowledge and labour is seen as the ideal breeding ground, with opportunities for the Brussels Canal Zone and the adjacent industrial zones in Vilvoorde, for developing a circular economy, and for local assembly coupled with a global logistics system. The thesis central to the research of Atelier Productive Metropolis BXL is that the foundations of the productive city of the future can be laid in the metropolitan area, while at the same time achieving social, ecological, economic and spatial gains on both sides of the regional border.
Atelier Productive Metropolis BXL is a collaboration of the IABR, Architecture Workroom (AWB) and Brussels and Flemish actors amongst which the Brussels-Capital Region,Ruimte Vlaanderen, the Public Waste Agency of Flanders (OVAM) and the Province of Flemish Brabant.
