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The exhibition pays tribute to a transversal approach to architecture: it foregrounds a practice that hybridises the expertise of architects, landscape architects and urban planners with the civic engagement of associations, activists and citizens. Right to the city brings together “militant archives” (Isabelle Doucet), the Archives d’architecture moderne (AAM) and the Sint-Lukasarchief – both rooted in the late 1960s and integral to Kanal Architecture’s DNA – alongside contemporary initiatives such as Filter Café Filtré’s Open Streets and the decolonial projects of the Laboratory of Mixed Realities.
Brussels has a particular and often traumatic relationship with modernity and modernisation – commonly and mockingly referred to as “Brusselisation”. This “peacetime demolition” has left deep scars on the urban fabric, most notably through the transformation of the Quartier Nord, located directly next to Kanal, via the Manhattan plan. Right to the city situates itself within this history, linking the memory of surrounding neighbourhoods to urgent contemporary issues – the climate crisis, circularity, gender and postcolonialism.
The exhibition and its accompanying programme follow a dual logic. On the one hand, they position Kanal Architecture as a new forum for spatial debate, bringing together experts and residents. On the other hand, they affirm the institution’s DNA as a site of cross-disciplinary practice that focuses on architecture, landscape and urban ecosystems.
Right to the city brings together documents from the historical collections of CIVA, new research covering the period 1970 – 2010, and eight contemporary commissions. The opening exhibition is supported by a public programme of some 50 events for both specialist audiences and the wider public. A series of workshops will provide additional context for audiences of all ages, and the exhibition will also be accompanied by a guide.
With: 51N4E/Track/LabNorth, AAM, ARAU, A+ / Geert Bekaert / Maurice Culot / Jos Vandenbreeden, Association des Comités de Quartier Ucclois, Pierre Bismuth / Nicolas Firket, Oana Bogdan, Gideon Boie / Lieven De Cauter, Bruxelles Inter-Environnement, Brussels Youth Coalition, Brusselse Raad voor het Leefmilieu, CEBE, Cinema Legumen, Cinema Nova, CityMined, Communa, Brussels West Environment Commission, Marolles General Action Committee, Luigi Coppola / Kobe Matthys / Zenne Garden, Stéphane Damsin (West), Wouter De Raeve, Xaveer de Geyter, Disturb, Paul Duvigneaud, Filter Café Filtré, Freetown Brussels, Common Front of Nature Conservation Groups, Groupe Structure, HouseEurope, Hôtel Centrale, Adelita Husni-Bey, Aglaia Konrad, Léon Krier, Lucien & Simone Kroll, Le Début des Haricots, Louis Le Roy, Ligue des Amis de la Forêt de Soignes / Ligue des Amis du Kauwberg, MAPRAC, Molenbeek2030, Pétitions-Patrimoine, Picnic the Streets, Plein-OPEN Air, Recyclart, Joanna Salles, Françoise Schein, Sint-Lukasarchief, Studio 012 / Karbon, Studio Open City, The Kitchen, The Laboratory of Mixed Realities (Sammy Baloji, Katrien Reist, Jasper Walgrave and others), Toestand, Universal Embassy / Hito Steyerl, V+, Paola Viganò, Jozef Wouters, and others.
Academic collaborations: ETH Zurich, KU Leuven, La Cambre, RWTH Aachen, Sandberg Instituut / Rietveld Academie, TU Delft, UC Louvain, UGent, University of Luxembourg, University of Sheffield, VUB.
External researchers: Koenraad Daneels, Isabelle Doucet, Johan Lagae, Bruno Notteboom, Elisabeth Peeters, Markus Miessen, Sven Sterken, Martino Tattara and others, partly within CIVA’s Research in Residence programme.