Senne field - The blue line

This project explores the role of the Senne in Brussels' urban development. Through a historical and landscape analysis of the Charroi industrial site, it envisions a new approach to city-making that addresses today’s major challenges. What does Brussels communicate for us ? How can we safeguard the Senne ? These two questions guided our research as part of the project focusing on the Charroi industrial site, crossed by the Senne; the forgotten river of Brussels. By reviving the memory of this river, we explored how the ever-evolving urban fabric has shaped the today city.

This in-depth analysis of the site and its history allowed us to project ourselves into the future while simultaneously asking: What aspirations do we hold as future architects? What defines a generous architecture? A generous architecture is one that provides living beings and their environments with a virtuous, caring, and sustainable space. It addresses contemporary social and environmental challenges by ensuring that the fundamental needs expressed by a cultural community are met. It is about enhancing daily life through conscious, responsible design. In doing so, connections naturally emerge around healthy places, creating shared spaces that foster well-being. With this vision, we developed a project that brings together multiple initiatives, all working toward a shared goal: imagining a different city for a more desirable future. As our guiding principle, we committed to working with what is already there. The main interventions we propose include a new age watermill referring to Brussels patrimony, acting as a beacon saying "here flows a river". It produces sustainable electricity and flour for the collective kitchen and vegetable garden that offers a place of visibility for everyday cooks, for them to share their knowledge and for citizens to have a meal together. The half-star hotel offers a reflection on housing by promoting cohabitation between travelers and first-time arrivals. It enhances the site with the construction on scaffolding. The window on the swamp comes to life in a listed ruined building, its foundations rooted in the marsh. Abandoned today, it will become a place for transmitting values between the human and the non-human. It is a subjective approach, that embraces the dreams and memories of living beings in the reality of the territory.