.DESIGN
Architecture for all Public have their say on the region’s most inspiring and liveable building projects
© Muriel Thies
By Ian Mundell
• The Trinkhall Museum in Liège
E
very three years, an inventory of new architecture in Wallonia and Brussels is put together to highlight the most inspiring and innovative building projects in the region. For the fourth edition, published in October 2020, the process was opened up to the wider public.
“Choosing 45 exemplary architectural projects able to inspire the world of tomorrow is a challenge that requires a collective
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intelligence, so we set out on this collective reflection with both experts and the people who use buildings,” says historian Pauline de la Boulaye, who curated the project with architect Gilles Debrun. The process they devised began with an open call for submissions, which collected 392 architecture projects and related initiatives from across the region. This was whittled down to a long-list of 150 projects and taken out on the road.
“Following this initial response, we felt it was essential to be in the public space, to get in people’s way, in a positive sense,” explains Debrun. “And then to debate publicly, you also need to be in the public space, where you can be exposed to all opinions.” A kind of camp, with caravans, was set up in three kinds of urban centre: in Tournai, a heritage city; in Liège, an urban metropolis; and in Pont-à-Celles, a rural town.
wallonia and brussels magazine
