This year, the graduation studio of Urban Architecture focusses on the development of a suburban area. The aim is to turn this low town into a downtown in which the pioneering spirit of generosity and reciprocity survives.
The project envisions a possible future for a collection of factory buildings located on the former can and rim factory terrain of Hoboken, Antwerp. Based on thorough research about leftover materials, reuse networks and reuse craftmanship the project proposes the building of Herbouwhuis.
Herbouwhuis is a reuse cycle centre, consisting of:
- Herbouwschool: reuse cycle school
- Bureau Herbouw: architecture, building and research office
- Herbouwateliers: ateliers for reuse artists
The proposal of Herbouwhuis fits within the design of a 300.000 m2 masterplan that centers around Lageweg. The masterplan approaches the site as part of Antwerp’s social, cultural and material ecosystem. Inspired by the pioneering community at Blikfabriek, it proposes a strategy of reconfiguration, building on existing qualities of the industrial heritage and material flows. Using time to its advantage, the plan aims to establish a culture of care by reusing discarded materials the city produces. The masterplan operates as a demolition contractor, recycling centre and thrift shop at once. By focussing on exchange points at the edge of industry and neighbourhood it increases the contact surface between materials and residents.
The design project consists of three acts, each representing a different phase.
Act 1 elicits the methodology, taking the existing situation as a serious starting point and using reuse craftmanship and improvisation to intervene and open up.
Act 2 shows what the building site would look like on a bigger scale and how the methodology leads to an architecture that tries to connect to its neighbouring developments.
Act 3 envisions Herbouwhuis in operation. It illustrates how the architecture of Herbouwhuis facilitates materials and agents to flow through, interact and go their own way.
The design of Herbouwhuis went together with the design of a curriculum for Herbouwschool. This curriculum was derived from a manifesto and education programme for Bauhaus by Walter Gropius, dating back to 1919.
My aim is that the growing reuse network and places like Herbouwhuis exponentially elevate the amount of reuse architecture in the urban landscape. That it becomes common sense to think in cycles and value the potential of leftover materials. As a reuse architect I’d like to be transparent about the origins of the materials I use, because it informs the user and might inspire others to turn waste into gift.