In Belgium, we arrived with a question, not a blueprint. What does it mean to be an architect today – and how do we take position in a world already built? In the initial phase we focused on analyzing and building a network: architects, activists, institutions – all part of an ongoing renovation movement in Brussels. We represented the Citizens’ Initiative within the EU headquarters, conducted a series of interviews with key actors, and initiated a bottom-up public event. Alongside this, we attended events across Brussels, gaining insight into the architectural discourses and practices currently at play.
Gradually, a narrative began to take shape: There is a movement – you can be part of it. The content we produced and shared on our online platform became part of that momentum, and the immediate interactions with it offered a form of public feedback that continually informed our approach. Throughout, the project unfolded as an almost openly participative process of situated learning – shaped by narrative, engagement, and reflection. Again and again, it required us to pause, reassess, and take position.
We articulated our engagement into six recurring verbs: networking, event planning, interviewing, designing, storytelling, and studying. Each of them is a spatial, social, and political act. Each of them is a way of engaging with the world. Each of them, we believe, demands taking a position. The project developed into an ongoing inquiry – into architecture, into agency, into the responsibilities we carry.
