The Team XII architecture competition, organised by the student organisation Existenz (KU Leuven), set the brief for a ‘Manifesto for the Inclusive City’. Two projects tied for the top prize: ‘The creation of degentrification’ and ‘Cross section, gentle gentrification through destructive degentrification’ – both an ode to emptiness.

For the third year running, Existenz has organised a competition open to all students in Belgium. Participants have twelve hours to use a single powerful image to give shape to an idea or concept in response to a socially relevant question. With the theme ‘Manifesto for the Inclusive City’, the organisers sought strategies for gentle gentrification whereby the city, through diversity and social mix, better reflects our multicultural society.