Ode to Joy

In 2023, the European Commission suddenly decided to sell 50% of their buildings in the European Quarter. The European Commission abandoned their “underperforming” building stock to reach climate neutrality by 2030. In the past, public buildings have been sold off for short-term financial advantages driving up the value of the land underneath. Repeating the same mistake in the name of sustainability means replacing the speculation of today by the green speculation of tomorrow. Therefore, the brief was to conceive an alternative ownership model, a program and transformation design.

In conversation with 30 people from the institutions, academia, real estate and activism, Ode to Joy proposes an alternative. Altering the sales process in its intermediate stage, the project implements a leasehold system. The Belgian state should keep the land, dwellers should own their homes and the European Commission should own their offices. With different compensation mechanisms the plotting of commercial against social function is turned around, ensuring accessibility and affordability. Focusing on the building block îlot 130, the program combines the institution with dwellings and a public research center for Europeanness. Within its economic concept Ode to Joy reduces the existing office program from 100% to 50% and creates more than 30% housing of which the majority is far below market price as well as 30 times more public space. The material transformation is based on reprogramming existing routes and creating in-between spaces for the encounter of the different users. The most underused part of the building, a parking garage stretched over three levels, becomes the main public space. Narrating the new porosity from the perspective of its users, the project’s main medium is film. In Brussels, the EU is commonly reduced to its bureaucratic function. Ode to Joy believes that the transformation of its space could be a collective moment recharging the idea of the European Union. Three days before the final presentation, the competition for îlot 130 was announced. Ode to Joy advocated for a more radical approach with a public discussion in Brussels in October 2024. Since then, Ode to Joy has won the SIA Master Prize and the Flemish Arts Decree. Developing as a transdisciplinary project, it will follow the ongoing real estate operation until 2027.