On a large building block on the edge of the Agfa Gevaert industrial site, on the border between Berchem and Mortsel, Frederic Vandoninck Wouter Willems Architects (FVWW Architects) built the Zilverkwartier, a residential complex with 81 residential units, a communal roof garden and an integrated supermarket. The project was inspired by the complex environment and conveys the architects’ vision of the future of living together in an urban context.

Frederic Vandoninck of FVWW Architects is waiting for me at the entrance to the supermarket, in front of the recognisable white and green striped façade of the Zilverkwartier. It is a grey, windy day. Occasionally, the sun breaks through the clouds and briefly illuminates part of the white-glazed façade. Across the street, several factory buildings tower above us. They are reminiscent of the photographs by Hilla and Bernd Becher, in which industrial buildings stand out sharply against grey skies. The surroundings appeal to the imagination: the brick Art Deco headquarters of Gevaert, designed by architect Armand de Backer in 1929, stands shoulder to shoulder with a mirror-glass building with an exoskeleton from the 1958 Expo, and between the white sheet steel factory halls and brick chimneys lie patches of wasteland bordered by overgrown blind walls.