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 dont 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 didnt 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 studios.
- 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 actions 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
The Think Tank activity for children to
get them of the streets.
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 The Living Lab

thinking
All different actors of the
During several days network come together for
workshops are organised with the living lab.
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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