CONCLUSION

Modernism is an architectural style from the XXth century and raised in Europe after the First World War. The movement brought a large upgrade in the sanitary conditions as well as increasing the amount of dwellings in the cities. But after the Second World war, and with the rise of capitalism, modernism started to modify the structure and the face of European cities. The ancient urban fabric was perceived at the time as outdated and not corresponding to the aspirations of the ‘modern city’. It was seen as outdated, unsuitable for the new hygiene codes and not adapted to the massive arrival of cars in the city. The modernist architects had a totally new vision and approach for urbanism. In a context of reconstruction following WWII, and the quest of a new identity, the modernists proposed a complete revision of the urban codes. Indeed, the city became vertical leaving wider space on the ground for car trafficking and nature. It is also a new way of thinking the relations within the society. But this utopia that undoubtedly change the face and gave a new image to European cities, went through a sort of disgrace.

At the end of the XXth century, modernist estates became some criminality foyers due to the impoverishment of the inhabitants who began to feel insecurity in their neighbourhood. Several estates gained a negative reputation and the population started to leave those ensembles, only people who couldn’t afford to leave where forced to stay. Then The comparison to penitential architecture became viral for the modernist movement. Many estates were destroyed after a short period of time following the disinterest for those buildings with the aim however to reduce the criminality in these ensemble and find a better balance in the scale of the city. In the end, the modernist movement, with the fall of the highrise estates added to the decrease of capitalism, gained a very adverse meaning for the population.

Nevertheless, it appeared finally that modernism rises interest for an increasing amount of people. New generations find in the modernist period a certain devotion that brings a shift in the meaning of those XXth century productions. Many projects seem to bring a new identity to those modernists buildings that becomes real part of the city but we can see that this re-appropriation of the past utopia is hard to convince the majority.

In Liège, the modernist period deeply changed the face of the city with the construction of several high rise estates and the restructuring of several neighbourhoods. The Kennedy ensemble, completed in 1971 by the architects Jean Poskin and Henri Bonhomie, is one of the most representative example of the modernist reform in Liège. In the heart of the transformation project of the André Dumont neighbourhood, said to be a district from which all life disappeared in the middle of the the century, the Kennedy ensemble used to be a real model for the cultural life in Liège. The neighbourhood was transformed to adapt the city to the car trafficking and solve the West/East road connection trough the city. The urban transformation is a clear expression of the modernist ideology to give more place to the car, to separate the pedestrian and car flows, and to build higher. The Kennedy ensemble is one of the three big ensemble built around this urban regeneration and is still considered today to be one of the most succeeded expression of brutalism of the last century in the city.

Despite its remarkable qualities, the Kennedy ensemble doesn’t achieve unanimity and is not seen today as a potential building to reinvent the city. Indeed, since its completion in 1971, no more investments were made in the ensemble. The cultural hub that constituted the Chiroux library at the foot of the ensemble is today a shadow of what it ones was. The authority doesn’t find interest in the modernist building and no future is announced after the library relocation in 2022. This testifies to a lack of architectural recognition towards the building and a certain ignorance of the urban potential that can result from the renovation or reconversion of the ensemble.

The reuse of the Kennedy ensemble means then that it has the possibility to become a lever for the revival in Liège. The architectural culture appears then as an answer to make the modernist movement part of the society again. It is actually a response to become an icon and the pioneer of the urban regeneration on historical bases to promote the architectural culture within a modernist ensemble. It becomes a place where architecture is debated everyday and where the ‘architectural trends’ are made discussed and developed, but moreover, share with the public. It enhances then modernism as a pride in the identity of our cities. This reuse brought back life within the building that itself becomes a real part of the society. It comes as a starting point to the acceptance and protection of the modernist heritage. It allows to give a new experience, thus a new dynamic meaning towards modernism.