Companions, at the Round Table!

By organizing an innovative participatory process, the project reflects on the citizens’ and architects’ role(s) in rethinking the further evolution of bottom-up food initiative ‘De Kompaan’ as a socio-spatial fabric. It examines the programming and renovation of their laboratory, as well as its transformation into a community food network.

The project departs from a profound involvement as a fellow Companion and critical discussion partner. Active participation, in-depth interviews and inside information allows to map the existing urban food fabric of ‘De Kompaan’ and its evolution during the ongoing experimental phase: roles taken on and habitats being used by citizens and other food initiatives in Borgerhout, exploring a wide variety of sustainable food practices (growing, storing, processing, consuming, distributing, re/upcycling…). Zooming in on the proposed renovation interventions for the lab, uncovers that the future evolution of these roles and habitats is precarious. This critical reading of the existing masterplan becomes the basis for research by design: rethinking, re-assembling and re-combining the mapped practices, food places, knowledge… The result? Four extreme possible futures each focusing on a few food practices, all grounded in the local urban fabric: the lab as shared spice garden, as compost pile, as fridge or as kitchen counter! These scenarios are subject of a roundtable discussion in which architects and citizens, both on equal footing, collectively redefine the role(s) that could be taken on by themselves and thus should be provided by the community food lab – taking into account the physical boundaries, history and opportunities of the former bakery. Organized as three complementary workshop moments, the Companions – including the architect – imagine how the good aspects could become better, how the bad aspects could become worse. This innovative participatory approach prompts them to make choices and to indicate the essence of each scenario. The conclusions of these far-reaching visions for the future lead to a final design for the bakery as community food lab. They expand the citizens’ view from the individual plot to the whole city as their playfield: Borgerhout as a resilient community food network. Tools, developed to initiate this dialogue, can now be complemented in order to continue the collective dialogue involving – among others – city councils and other citizens’ food initiatives.