Town Hall Brussels

A house of the city

Master thesis (2020)
Faculty
Architecture and the Built Environment
Copyright: © 2020 Nicky Brockhoff
Brussels Reusing materials Town hall Administrative centre Political space
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Published Date

06-07-2020

Language

English

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Faculty

Architecture and the Built Environment

Abstract

For my graduation project, I aimed to explore the way in which the new economy of reusing existing building materials or complete structures can be used in a large building project such as the new town hall in Brussels and how it can serve as an exemplar to its surroundings. The project entails the appropriation of an existing corporate office building along the Boulevard de Anspach in Brussels. This building stems from 1969 and was part of the 'Brusselization'. This modernization resulted in many unattractive and rather outdated buildings. Since the office tower was built amid these innovations, this graduation project is a manifesto on how to deal with the inheritance of this modernization. Moreover, what should a municipality embody or represent to its citizens and passers-by? While elaborating on the theme of 'a political space' I focussed on exposing existing qualities/structures by claiming and appropriating a piece of urban space for its proximity.