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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.