MapRac
On the weekend of 19-20-21 March 2004 MapRac mapped out a potential future for the cité administrative in Brussels
Brussels’ Cité administrative is a 6 hectare modernist complex in the heart of the city. It was designed in the 1950s to accommodate 140,000 civil servants of the Belgian Federal administration. 700 families were moved out of their houses, entire streets were abolished, and the surrounding area never recovered from the impact of the Cité. Today hardly 5,000 are working there, and the Federal government is planning to sale and lease back parts of the site.
To avoid the urbanist desastre of the 1950s, a number of interest groups wanted to have their voice heard in the redevelopment. Maprac brought together all stakeholders, from local resident over urban planner to civil servant and real estate developer, to make a state of affairs of risks and potentials. The result was published in a tabloid newspaper, and was distributed for free throughout Brussels.
MapRac was followed in 2004 by PleinOPENair. For more information visit www.maprac.org.
Ongoing projects:
L-Atlas
Precare
Generalized Empowerment
Krax
Micronomics
Cartografie
Bouillot
Publications:
Bunker Souple Repertorium 1998 & 2000: available at Citymine(d) offices.
Generalized Empowerment. Uneven Development and Urban Interventions, 2006. Download here.
MapRAC. Plannen voor het RijksAdministratief Centrum. La Cité Administrative de l'Etat en cartes & en question, 2004: available at Citymine(d) offices.
Micronomics scanning: DVD online soon.
Networkbook for Urban P/Arts. 42 initiatives capturing London's Public Space, 2004: available at Citymin(e)d offices.
Towards. Cartes Subjectives d'interventions Urbaines à Bruxelles // Subjectieve Kaarten van Stedelijke Internventies in Brussel: available at Citymine(d) offices.