THE DISCO-SWITCH
Rosier 9 marks the first exercise in activating The City of Transition. The building project involved demolishing the existing structure, leaving only the shared walls and basement intact. To maintain stability, the contractor retained the original floor structure until the new floors could be installed.
The resulting spatial configuration possesses two defining characteristics. On one hand, it is a void within a dense, raw housing street facade (a). On the other, this void reveals a pure tectonic composition: two aged brick walls (b) manifesting verticality; a layered grid of wooden beams (c) expressing horizontality; and a spiral wooden staircase (d) introducing a human scale while contributing a spine-like dynamism to the skeletal framework.
This configuration generated a strong atmosphere, particularly during sunny hours, when casting shadows activated the cavities of the space. b d c
The overarching research goal is to activate transitional sites in ways that integrate them harmoniously into the city’s evolving dynamics without disrupting their transformation process. This can be achieved by creating time-specific events where these spaces are revealed or presented to the public through low-budget, minimalistic interventions that highlight their inherent qualities. These events could take various forms — weekend-long engagements, scenographic or artistic interventions, light installations, performances, or speculative narrative publications.
Given the pronounced tectonic qualities of the Rosier 9 site, it was logical to engage directly with these features. To contrast the strong verticality and horizontality of the space, as well as the materiality of brick and wood, a third element was introduced — one that opposed both aspects while adding its own distinct presence.
The disco ball emerged as the ideal intervention: its spherical form disrupts directional rigidity; its reflective surface contrasts starkly with the raw materials; and its inherent quality of scattering light would bring a literal activation to the space during sunlit hours.
Mirroring the three clearly defined levels of the structure, it became evident that placing a disco ball within each space would be the most effective way to heighten this dialogue.
The space received the disco-switch
Time is one of the key aspects of the City of Transition research. The research states that the cityscape is a continuously breathing tissue, which can only be defined through a moment in time. The diagram below is a collection of several threshold moments of the land parcel presently known as Rosier 9. This timeline is based on the building application documentation submitted to the city council for approval. It begins with a project for a single-family house with a commercial function on the ground floor from 1874.
One can follow both minor and major volumetric changes of the facade, as well as interior reconfigurations and function shifts throughout the years, leading up to the next planned transformation — a completely new building set to be completed around mid-2025. Based on this flow of volumetric transformations in time, the research states that the disco-switch intervention also belongs to the timeline simply because it has happened: on the weekend of July 3 and 4, 2024, the Rosier 9 site was something called the Disco-Switch
The contractors are seen as collaborators and co-creators in the process. It is therefore essential that the intervention is harmoniously integrated into the construction timeline, without creating obstacles or delaying progress. The only exception is that the site may be slightly prepared for public attention — relatively cleaned up, with possible minor scenographic arrangements.
Once all parties agree on the intervention, the construction schedule is analyzed to identify potential moments or periods for implementation, ranging from an evening to a weekend or longer. The City in Transition intervention is treated as an equal subcontractor, responsible for executing its part of the process. During the intervention period, an information banner will be placed on-site, informing passersby about its activity — similar to how other subcontractors are represented.
The illustration above presents the actual construction schedule for the Rosier 9 project. The Disco-Switch intervention is scheduled for the weekend of July 3rd and 4th, 2024, aligning with the shoring works (beschoeiingswerken in Dutch).
These discoballs… What is it that we see? Do they intrigue or appeal to us? Why? Dysfunctional, illogical, surreal? Or perhaps beautiful, playful, and captivating?
Does this wooden framework not remind us of our own body’s composition—a skeletal structure? Does it not echo the ribcage of a mammal, with the wooden stairs resembling a spine? For a moment, can we imagine a building as a living species? It holds energy and light, provides warmth, circulates air—it breathes. On a chilly day, you can even see its carbon exhalation, can’t you? A skeptical mind may see only a machine. But could we also call it a being? A building being?
And what of the discoballs? What role do they play in this composition? Heart? Eyes? Kidneys? Are we looking at a kind of Frankenstein? Or perhaps not everything needs to be so anthropocentric. Maybe we should resist the urge to define and simply let this creature be.
It is still a building, yet it does not fit the conventional definition. Of course, this is a speculation. It is you, dear urban dweller, who decides what you see. This urban creature merely invites you to shift your perspective—to view the city as a space where even the most conventional buildings are only temporary phases, just like this skeleton with a disco-switch. Both belong to the city; both have their own qualities—one more pragmatic, the other more poetic.
Can you imagine humanity without poetry?