Ode to joy | Maximilian Lewark, Josiane Schmidt and Alexander Throm, the Chair of Affective Architectures at the ETH Zurich
We provide dessert for the break after the seminar. Please register if you want to join and/or enjoy the dessert!
Last summer, the European Commission announced the biggest single real estate operation in the history of Brussels. After decades of overturning planning regulations aimed at the demolition and re-building of the European Quarter, the European Commission suddenly decided to sell 50% of their buildings to achieve their exemplary goal for climate neutrality by 2030. The so-called “Cityforward” sale is a two-stage process. In the first stage, the European Commission has sold the 350.000 m2 to the Belgian Federal State for close to one billion Euros. In the second stage, the Federal State is going to sell the buildings in 12 packages to private developers.
"Ode to Joy" designs an alternative to the sale. In its intermediate stage, the land ownership can be separated from the ownership of the buildings on top. Operating within a leasehold system, the land is kept in public ownership while the buildings are sold to private entities. If the Belgian State keeps the land, the new dwellers buy their homes and the European Commission buys back office space, a more ambitious cultural and residential programme can be achieved including half of the dwellings below market-price average. Employing counterfinancing mechanisms would mean creating space for a more diverse set of people.
"Ode to Joy" is a graduation project from Maximilian Lewark, Josiane Schmidt and Alexander Throm inside the Chair of Affective Architectures at the ETH Zurich, led by An Fonteyne.
Maximilian Lewark (DE, 1998) is an architect and member of JAM (https://j-a-m.eu/). The architecture collective is built on a fluid collaboration on academic and independent projects since 2018. They focus on renovation designs, studies and workshops in Europe and Switzerland. Previously, Maximilian collaborated with amongst others Büro Krucker in Zurich. He has worked as a researcher for the European Citizen Initiative HouseEurope! (https://www.houseeurope.eu/) since 2023 and has been teaching with station+ (https://station.plus/) at ETH Zurich since 2024.
Josiane Schmidt (DE, 1997) is an architect and member of JAM (https://j-a-m.eu/). The architecture collective is built on a fluid collaboration on academic and independent projects since 2018. Advocating for a transformation beyond materiality, they put the idea of spatial responsibility to the fore. Previously, Josiane collaborated with amongst others noAarchitecten in Brussels. She has worked as a researcher for the European Citizen Initiative HouseEurope! (https://www.houseeurope.eu/) since 2023 and has been teaching with station+ (https://station.plus/) at ETH Zurich since 2024.
Alexander Throm (DE, 1998) is an architect and member of JAM (https://j-a-m.eu/). The architecture collective is built on a fluid collaboration on academic and independent projects since 2018. Their work has been exhibited at ZAZ Bellerive in Zurich, et al. in Brussels and has been awarded by SIA. Previously, Alexander collaborated with amongst others Büro Krucker in Zurich. He has worked as a researcher for the European Citizen Initiative HouseEurope! (https://www.houseeurope.eu/) since 2023 and has been teaching with station+ (https://station.plus/) at ETH Zurich since 2024.