European Center for Integrated Social Urbanism A business plan for a “social factory� in Brussels.
by BCs, division of BrusselsCooperation.be, and MyCityLab.eu, contact Laurens Bekemans Laurens@brusselscooperation.be 0471562235 Rue Houzeau de Lehaie 12, 1080 Brussel
Global (or European?) Context
The world is changing, economic models don’t work anymore, social classes are being excluded. Artists, architects are researching other models that are essentially bottom-up. We are living in an era of temporality which feeds the need to be sulsuficient even in urban areas. There is the need to gather and organize these bottom-up effects, to gather and organize the practices of good knowledge, to create networks for this knowledge, and take action from this knowledge. Cities and urban context as focal point because of the growth of urban population worldwide. Public space in these cities is crucial, being the meeting point where knowledge can be communicated in an informal way. The influence of the citizen on the urban public space is becoming bigger and bigger in new models of living. They need mental support, physical tools and knowledge to take on this citizen responsability.
Brussels Context
(Dossier DOK Gent checken? redenen waarom DOK gent is opgestart, te checken.) Brussels, with its 19 communes, has a specific context. Certain social classes are very integrated in the city centre, no suburbs. So bettering of public space is very important. Yet difficult within the 19 communes structure. Because of its social reality, Brussels needs to focus on survival strategies, an access to selfsufficiency knowledge, in a positive an imaginative way by looking over the borders of the 19 communes.
Brussels-South Station and Kureghem Context
Brussels-South station with the surrounding high rise buildings has passengers from all over the world taking national, thalys and eurostar trains. Just next to it is the well-known and stigmatised Kureghem neighbourhood. The Brussels South Station is a priority for the Brussels Region, and the Eurostation NV, who asked Jean Nouvel to form a vision about it. As was to be expected, Jean Nouvel proposed a design that was stunning architecturally, but didn’t take into account local neighbourhoods. ‘Parc Grisar’, on the edge of Eurostation area and Kureghem, is symbolic for this situation. It has been closed for 4 years, because of unwanted youngsters smoking and hanging around, and because of it being the runaway route for youngster committing small theft in Eurostation area. This clash between 2 worlds, the one of money and the one of social reality needs attention.
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The story before
For TODAYS ART festival Brussels, MyCityLab re-opened ‘Parc Grisar’. ‘Parc Grisar’ had been closed for 4 years, being a blind spot between the withering rise of high budget development projects around Brussels-South trainstation, and Kureghem, the well-known and stigmatised area within Anderlecht. The park was used during one week as a gathering place for artists and neighbourhood, and as a workshop space for improving self-sufficiency in a playful way. Kureghem community members could learn how to fix up their bikes, how to build a tower, play kicker on a mobile kicker-bike, play football, together with artists doing perfomances, making installations and so on. A true happening took place. The epicentre of the festival, was a new unfinished building in Parc Grisar, which has been empty for some years. During the festival, it was used for lectures, workshops, and administration.
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The story before
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The story before
Already during the festival, MyCityLab oganisers, BrusselsCooperation architects, Kureghem community leaders and Kureghem social organisations felt that there was a ‘momentum’ of mutual enthousiasm and desire for change. Round-table conversations took place with all mentioned parties, culminating in a community gathering in the ‘bubble’ (installed by Berlin architects Raumlabor) where emotional talks were held about the unwanted closing of ‘Parc Grisar’, 4 years before, and the desire of the community to have it re-opened on a long term basis, and not just for the festival.
It was clear for all parties that this has to have a follow-up. BCs and MyCityLab took this opportunity to integrate the need for doing something in Kureghem into a bogger vision of a microfactory.
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CONCEPT? A social factory focused on integrated social urbanism - getting its headquarters in Parc Grisar, Kureghem in a combined live-and-work space, giving a permanence and social control for Parc Grisar, so that - Parc Grisar can be reopened and reconnected to the neighbourhood. - cataloguing knowledge of good practices and providing this as an open library - creating an external classroom for Brussels universities interested in social architectural and artistic practice and organizing workshops and design studio’s. - developing strategies to map temporary unused urban space and urban improvement possibilities in Brussels - providing the tools to create public space in these temporary unused spaces and propose concrete action to answer these possibilities for improvements. - link with a European network of social factories.
STRUCTURE! ACTIVE CITIZENSHIP The active citizen is the input machine, mapping wastelands in Kureghem at first, and Brussels in the long term. It gives the food for projects, it reports opportunities and spaces to work on in Brussels. - MAP-IT sessions - Informal Communication - Buildyourbrussels Website its actors are end-users, in different forms: community members, artists, local organizations, ... THINK TANK Organises and coordinates the whole structure. Documents and reflects on the process and its implications for Brussels. Keeps headquarters in Parc Grisar. Gathers information on good practices. As supervisors of the European Centre of Integrated Social Urbanism it connects to a European network and provides it with experience and knowledge. Its actors are BCs, and MyCityLab. LIVING LAB The living lab is where open research happens, where solutions are being designed for and with the active citizens. Its actors are brainstormers and designers, in different forms: architecture and art students, community members, artists, professionals, local organizations, ... TOOLBOX The toolbox node is where the action’s at. It provides the tools necessary to implement the ideas of the living lab. Its actors are constructors, in different forms: architecture students, professionals, community members, local organizations, ...
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ACTION RADIUS! AND ACTIONS! The Active Citizen What? Active citizenship refers to a philosophy espoused by organizations and educational institutions which advocates that members of companies or nation-states have certain roles and responsibilities to society and the environment, although those members may not have specific governing roles. An active citizen is someone who takes a role in the community. The term has been identified with volunteering by writers such as Jonathan Tich, who wrote in the Huffington Post in 2010 advocating that busy Americans should try to help others, particularly by offering high-level professional expertise in such areas as banking, education, engineering, and technology to help the less fortunate.(Wikipedia) Who? Everybody can be an active citizen. There are no rules to follow or registration to make. The only need is to be pro-active and care for the place you live. Where? The Active Citizen lives in the city. He knows the corners, faults, parcs,.... in the city. He is omni present.
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ACTION RADIUS! AND ACTIONS! The Think tank What? A living-and-working plan, the Think tank lives and works in the building at Parc Grisar. Living: the think tank provides a permanence for the park, negotiates with the commune new opening hours and organizes informal community days in the park. It serves as the info-point of the Working: the think tank manages the microfactory on a daily basis. (See think tank node) Who? The think tank is BCs, division of BrusselsCooperation.be, and MyCityLab. BCs as an architecture research cell is responsable for the follow up of all design and architecture related issues, MyCityLab is responsable for managing contacts with local, Brussels and European networks. Where? The first floor can be converted to have 3 rooms, living room and office space on the first floor. The ground floor shares bathroom and kitchen.
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ACTION RADIUS! AND ACTIONS! The living lab What? An open research lab, to come up with solutions for the feeder node input, and to assist the Think tanks activities, and an infopoint for good practices in urban strategies. It can be conceived as a semi-public space, with the door always open. It is physically and funtionally very much linked to the office of BCs as a working place. It can also be conceived as an external classroom for Brussels (architecture) universities, where new ideas can be tested as a team in a new self-empowering way of education, implementing real-life social architectural practice within students’ searching mindsets. Who? Partnerships with Brussels universities, students, urban researchers, involved community members, BCs, MyCityLab Where? The ground floor of the building serves as a workshop space for the living lab. Presentation walls, beamer, tables, internet, tools, are present, the bathroom and kitchen is shared with first floor.
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ACTION RADIUS! AND ACTIONS! The toolbox storage area What? Mobile toolboxes define public space as they unfold. In order to implement ideas of the living lab into Kureghem, or on a long term Brussels, toolboxes are made. They provide carpentry and metalwork tools to give workshops in public space. They can unfold and become temporary villages. The toolboxes can reproduce themselfves by constructing new boxes serving different urban functions. In this way, a breed of vehicles for urban improvement is born. Who? The first toolbox is being designed and built by BCs. It provides the tools to construct, create, build,... It is a mobile workspace. Where? The toolboxes are stocked in front of Think tanks building, in Parc Grisar. Their action radius is Kureghem, and on the long term Brussels. Maybe some boxes will even travel to other European Cities. But they always come back to their stockage area, Parc Grisar.
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ACTION RADIUS! AND ACTIONS!
Parc Grisar What? - Opening the Parc at regular weekly interval. - organising informal community days and evenings, such as football tournaments, cinema nights. - Transforming Parc Grisar into a workshopping place. - The physical place where people are informed about the project. Who? The actors of the toolbox node. Where? Parc Grisar.
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ACTION RADIUS! AND ACTIONS!
Kureghem What? Implementing ideas on improving Kureghem, after input from the feeder node, and after living lab idea creation, by means of the transformers. Who? To be determined by project (for example community, local roganizations,...) , under guidance by BCs. Where? Kureghem.
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ACTION RADIUS! AND ACTIONS! Brussels What? Implementing ideas on improving Brussels, after input from the feeder node, and after living lab idea creation, by means of the transformers. Who? To be determined by project (for example community, local organizations, universities), under guidance by BCs. Where? Brussels.
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ACTION RADIUS! AND ACTIONS! Europe What? Connecting to a European network. Who? MyCityLab Where? Europe.
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SCENARIO!
The active Citizen It al starts with people of the city. for example Citizen X.
A wasteland Citizen X notices an unused space in the neighbourhood.
An idea Citizen X was thinking of a smallscale after-school activity for children to get them of the streets.
The Think Tank Citizen X runs to the neighbourhood Think Tank to inform them of the situation.
Formulating an project Once a the project is seen as an interesting implementation of good practices, the Think Tank sends out its message to its network. A dialogue The Think Tank together with Citizen X discusses the input and analyse its feasability.
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SCENARIO! Working, designing and thinking
The Living Lab All different actors of the network come together for the living lab.
During several days workshops are organised with the participating people. A design is concretised.
Showcase During several days activities are organised to show the project to the neighbourhood and gather local forces.
The Toolboxes Action! The mobile toolboxes leave for the wasteland to implement the result of the living lab on scale 1 to 1.
Intagrated Social Urbanism is a fact Together with the neighbourhood and active members of the Living Lab and Think Tank the project is built.
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ACTORS DIAGRAM!
Thinker and organiser
Researcher User and instigator
Creator
The Active Citizen - everybody The Think Tank -
MyCityLab BC Thomas Lommee? Professor X Socioloog Y Politieker Z Local agents
(De Think Tank moet geloofwaardigheid en expertise uitstralen!!!!En het moet deuren kunnen openen!!!) The Living Lab -
Univrsities -Sint-Lucas -Sint-Lukas -........ Raumlabor Designer X local institution Y
The Toolbox - Local workforces
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