Opening Exhibition Re/Building Brussels - the Brussels construction sector in the picture

Dear journalist,

You are cordially invited to the opening of the exhibition on the past and present of the Brussels building sector, which will take place on 10 February - 17h30 in the Halles Saint-Géry, and to the preceding symposium, which will take place from 13h-17h in the Centre Tour à Plomb. This will be attended by VUB researchers and Brussels bouwmeester maître architecte Kristiaan Borret.

Despite their crucial role, little is known about Brussels' construction companies. Because of their small-scale organisation, the building sector often remains invisible, both to researchers and policymakers. To grasp the complexity of the sector and understand their needs, geographers, historians and engineer-architects from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel studied various angles in the Re/Building Brussels project. They looked at the Brussels building sector from 1695 to the present day with an innovative, interdisciplinary view.

The exhibition and conference are the culmination of the research project 'Building Brussels' (2016-2021) and the starting point of the follow-up project 'Rebuilding Brussels' (2021-2026). Both have been funded as interdisciplinary research programmes by the Vrije Universiteit Brussel and are conducted from the research groups Architectural Engineering, Cosmopolis (Geography) and HOST (Urban History). Within both projects, the entrepreneurs, workers and artisans in the Brussels building sector form the common research object.

Practical

Exhibition

• Press moment: Vernissage on Thursday 10 February at 5.30 pm with drinks, short guided tour and/or speech, and opportunity to ask questions. Register with matthijs.degraeve@vub.be
• Halles Saint-Géry, Place Saint-Géry, Brussels
• More info incl. Covid measures: https://www.vub.be/arch/project/expo-re-building-brussels

Symposium

• Thursday 10 February, 1 – 5 pm.
• Centre Tour à Plomb / Centrum Hageltoren, Slachthuisstraat 24 Rue de l’Abattoir, Brussels
• Speakers
  • Kristiaan Borret - Brussels bouwmeester maître architecte
  • Judy Stephenson - The Bartlett School of Sustainable Construction
  • Gilli Hobbs - Sustainability and Circular Economy Advisor
  • VUB researchers: Sarah De Boeck, Frederik Vandyck, Matthijs Degraeve, Karoline da Silva Rodrigues, Lara Reyniers, Louise Huba, Ine Wouters, Stephanie Van de Voorde, Heidi Deneweth, David Bassens, Niels De Temmerman en Wouter Ryckbosch
• Free admission after registration via this link
• More info and programme: https://www.vub.be/arch/project/sympo-re-building-brussels

Contact:

Matthijs Degraeve,

Matthijs.degraeve@vub.be,

0495/ 886 200