For years, climate change has been showing us the limits of unlimited economic growth. Raw materials are finite, and a linear economy in which valuable basic materials end up as unprocessed waste is not sustainable. The construction sector plays a major role in global waste production. Yet today, in most design studios within architecture faculties in Belgium, design is still taught according to a linear model, focused on new construction. Laurens Bekemans and Catherine Mengé (KU Leuven, Brussels campus) are gradually trying to turn the tide and give students an understanding of circular processes through the international master’s programme ‘On circular materials and processes’.

“Students are immersed in a specific niche of ‘circular’ construction, namely the development of new, local and bio-ecological building materials using soil and waste materials from Belgian quarries and demolition sites,” explains Catherine Mengé. “The studios are structured as a combination of theory, research, practice and engagement with a specific context.”