In 2018 Architecture Workroom Brussels (AWB), a ‘thinkand-do tank’ for innovation in architecture and urbanism, moved into a temporary office in the WTC I tower in the Northern Quarter in Brussels. As curators, they also organized the cultural event ‘You Are Here’. To achieve this, they teamed up with various associations, administrations and entrepreneurs. A year later, and after many developments, AWB look back at this period and take stock. With an eye on the future, they question their position on the temporary use of vacant premises, while also outlining the attendant pitfalls and challenges.

The temporary use of vacant buildings and underused urban space is on the rise in Brussels. From a policy viewpoint, the increased interest in stimulating this type of activity is hardly strange. Five years ago, the public commissioning authority Brussels Environment took the first steps by awarding public contracts for temporary-use projects. Good results were achieved via initiatives such as Allee du Kaai by Toestand (a non-profit organization) and ParckFarm (within the framework of Parkdesign 2014) by Alive Architecture and 1010 architecture+urbanism. However, it took some time to get used to this for the city activists of Toestand with their inevitably anarchistic touch.