In the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, Brussels fell prey to a building boom that would radically reshape the city’s landscape. Entire blocks of buildings were demolished to make way for new roads, offices and homes. There was no coherent plan tailored to the city as a whole, and private developers faced little resistance from the political sphere. There was, however, considerable protest from architectural circles. To mark the exhibition ‘Save/Change the City’, A+ is publishing extracts from L’unique chemin de l’architecture. This impassioned manifesto by Maurice Culot and Léon Krier was first published in the magazine aam in 1978 and paints a clear picture of the architectural discourse of the time. A discourse in favour of preserving the city that is completely different today, yet timeless.

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