Amnesty for the city. The Hoogpoort design for the Carrefour de l'Europe in Brussels (1983)

Abstract

In 1983, four young architects from Belgium and the Netherlands (Stéphane Beel, Xaveer De Geyter, Arjan Karssenberg, Willem Jan Neutelings) participated together in a design competition for the Carrefour de l'Europe, situated at the heart of Brussels. In this article, their proposal is interpreted, critically examined and considered in a wider historical and theoretical context. In Team Hoogpoort's project, the Brussels crossroads was left open and unhindered by architecture, while a few high-rise buildings reinforced the metropolitan potential of the city. The design is an early example of the acceptance of the conditions of the late-modern city, or at least of a reinforcement of certain aspects: such as mobility, congestion, commerce and leisure. The post-war commercial and bureaucratic development of the city centre was countered not by means of a conservative design proposal, but by a provocative and conceptual celebration of metropolitan activities.This approach to the development of the historical city differed strongly from previous designs for the site. It was, however, concurrent with international convictions (for example, those of Koolhaas, Venturi and Ortner). As such, the project was immediately historicised, by some critics and historians, to mark the birth of a new architectural culture in Belgium. Recent projects for the Carrefour start from an alternative approach, based on different conceptions of the role of architecture in an urban environment, and on the necessity of a political approach towards the city.