International Urban Design Workshop
Where: Brussels
When: 20-24.03.2023
“Caring is sharing’” only partially describes the spirit of many practices happening in the voids left behind by an overstretched welfare state. From community kitchens to temporary shelters for refugees, from spaces for artistic and cultural production to educational activities for young people. Vacant sites and buildings, offer the opportunity to experiment with new ecological forms of welfare, based on the needs and capacities of the concerned communities and their living environments. But vacancy is increasingly instrumentalized in speculative urban development projects, putting different communities in competition for affordable space.
Beyond temporary occupations, what if these community welfare mixed infrastructures could be permanent? Which spatial, governance, legal and financial arrangements would be needed need to realize them? How could they contribute to the urban and social resilience of a building, a neighbourhood, the city as a whole? Crucially, caring is also owning.
As part of the WELCOMIN project, this intensive international workshop explores the limitations and potentials of community ownership and community welfare mixed infrastructures in Brussels. In the framework of a prospective approach and supported by the input of international experts and local actors, research by design will allow envisioning spatial, functional and governance arrangements that can lay the foundation for caring and community-centred policies and cities.
Apply!
This inter- and transdisciplinary workshop is open to researchers, postgraduate students and practitioners from various fields such as architecture and urban design, anthropology, spatial planning, urban geography, law, visual arts, economics, real estate studies and related disciplines.
Enrolment: send your motivation letter, CV and portfolio (where applicable) to e-mail address – info@welcomin.brussels
Application deadline: 24 January 2023 EXTENDED to 30th January 2023
As we cannot offer a place to every applicant, a limited number will be selected.
Detailed program coming soon!