FEDERICA ZAMBELETTI / KOOZ Bouwaanvraag (pronounced bough-aan-vrahkh) is a Dutch term thatliterally means "building application". The project is structured around six building permit applications which you have submitted to urban planning departments in Ghent and Brussels. What prompted this project and your curiosity in building permits?

LAUREN DIERICKX It starts in a two-fold way. We have this undefined ambition to do something whenever we see an opportunity in certain buildings or places in the city. There's an inherent possibility in these spaces. The second reason is very practical. We're all architects and artists, and we know a lot about the formalities and administrative hassle of building applications. Like in many other countries, In Belgium building applications are complex, very administrative and formal — but interestingly enough, in Belgium you can hand in a building application for a building you don't own. Anyone can submit a building application for a neighbour's house or to share an idea about a building. This administrative peculiarity piqued our interest. We realised that as architects, we could use the format to express or communicate a project to the city. This system allows you to check if your plan is feasible before buying a building. It serves as a platform to express opportunities and start conversations with cities and the government about missed opportunities. We can propose designs beyond mere economic feasibility, addressing other essential needs within the city.

KOOZ Lauren used a beautiful word, "possibility." As architects, we constantly see potential in abandoned buildings. What informed the choice of the six buildings or spaces in your building application? How do these possibilities address both local struggles and broader issues around access to the city and public space?

OLIVIER GOETHALSWe actually had more than six possibilities; we had a big list, and those six were the ones we eventually worked on with students. We chose those six because each had some aspect of critique, potential no one sees, or a utopian idea — something totally different that might never see the light of day. They all have a green element, integrating green spaces into hard urban areas, and they include a fun element. It's a joyful approach to city and urbanism.

LD A common backbone is that the projects are often in transition — a lot is happening around them. This is not why we chose them, but it's why they were on our minds. These sites are in the dense city centres of Brussels and Ghent. Often, the buildings were sold or about to be transformed, like a shopping centre being sold to become something completely different. There's a lot of discussion about what to do with certain buildings, their relevance, and the balance between parking lots and green space. This moment of transition is a great opportunity for architects to explore their own points of view.

KOOZ What do you think is the potential of introducing students to this bureaucratic framework, which they will have to engage with once they graduate, while also using it as a space for imagination?

LDI think the students quickly felt its benefit, using these bureaucratic administrative documents to express a project. While studying, they rarely get in touch with this aspect. It's usually not part of a studio project. However, they were intrigued by the idea of using this formal situation. I should also mention that they mostly worked on the drawings themselves. We spent a lot of time on that, so they were not fully immersed in the administrative process.

LMIt's important that after school, students don’t get disillusioned by all this bureaucracy. The project triggered them to realise that whatever format they need to use doesn't have to contradict their ideas. This is crucial for architects. Going further, instead of allowing rules and regulations to limit us, we can reverse the roles and present our ideas to the city as invitations. We encourage the city to approve these opportunities that go beyond economic reasoning. It's about showing them that while regulations are necessary, they can also limit free thinking. These projects, together with students, aim to bring this forward. This is something we discussed in the workshops.

LD To add to what Laura is saying, let me give an example. Building applications require descriptive notes, and we can use this as an opportunity to make a nice text out of it. We had a workshop with professionals who helped the students write texts for building applications in a different way. This allowed them to become the authors of their own projects, making a seemingly obligatory task empowering. We shared this with the students, showing them how to aestheticise administration. It turns a regularly boring task into an artistic project, demonstrating creativity with means not typically developed for that purpose. This approach also triggered the students' interest in the project.

OG Students also helped in the huge task of digitising every facade and plan. All the buildings are pre-PDFs and pre-AutoCAD, so we needed to create existing and new situations for each job document. There's a lot of interpretation involved, which is also part of an architect's job. It's quite an interesting task to manage with the students.

KOOZ It reminds me of the European Citizen Initiative (ECI), led by B-Plus with HouseEurope at ETHZ. It's beautiful to engage students not just in designing a building but understanding the political and economic reasons behind its functions and the actors defining them. A simple building application can open minds to hidden aspects until one starts operating, also considering who benefits from it.

OGWe coincidentally got into a political situation in Ghent. There were two parties: the Green Party, which didn't want to cooperate with another party that wanted extra parking lots under one of our buildings. This building is an old shopping mall that no longer functions as such, so we proposed hollowing it out and creating a forest inside. We left the existing parking lot and put the forest on top. One political party wanted extra floors in the parking space, while the Green Party opposed it, leading to a coalition issue. This conflict is exaggerated and visible within our building permission, giving it a political dimension. Each proposal has a political aspect, reflecting our position as human beings towards the built environment and the earth. In the forest project, we don't give access to the building; it's a space for birds, not humans. Once a year, people can step on a staircase and watch through a window during bird season. This raises the question of whether we, as humans, can let go of space and accept other ways of organising things. The project combines social, ecological, and fun elements into one suggestion.

KOOZIt's interesting that you work with buildings associated with collective memories. You mentioned that one of the projects has been discussed within a political sphere. What is the audience that such a project seeks to engage with? Can a building application engage citizens and build momentum with them?

OG I think it depends on the content of the project. For example, the Safari Royal idea aims to make the Royal Park accessible to people through a tour tunnel. The king's garden becomes almost like a zoo, where people can't enter but can see the royal garden from within a tunnel. This absurd proposition allows people to see an environment they normally aren't allowed to be in and connects parts of the city lacking public green space to the royal garden, making it part of their vista. There's always a twist within the narrative. Some projects have the potential to be realised and carried by a larger part of society, but that's not always the aim. My question is also about how to catalyse public discourse and engage citizens in this conversation. The strength lies in the joyfulness and attitude of these projects. They invite people to look beyond initial criticisms and understand the message behind them. This approach combines joy and radical sincerity.

LMThat's why the combination of a dry building application format, taken seriously, and a joyful, imaginative proposal works so well. It triggers our imagination and talks about opportunities. It doesn't have to happen exactly as proposed, but it symbolises missed opportunities and ways to implement them. This approach creates space for communication and connects with citizens. When the forest project was selected for a prize in Ghent, it created joy and engagement on social media. People from Ghent shared it, and it brought a sense of fun.

OGAs a society, we're quite accustomed to dystopian future narratives. Many Hollywood movies depict future imaginations with dark twists, post-apocalyptic scenarios, or neoliberal capitalist societies heading towards ecological disasters. Our project, however, presents another possibility of a future simulation: it's joyous, with a fun element, while being very serious at the same time. It has a playful, childlike quality, similar to Miyazaki’s Studio Ghibli movies, which also share non-dystopian, joyful and playful elements. The building application embodies this, which is why it connects well with citizens.

KOOZ So what happens now? With the building applications submitted, what's next?

LD The first step is that one of the building applications is now in process, in the city of Ghent. This is the next small step for us. We hope to get permission for our final project — one of the six — which would allow us to communicate our position with the people of Ghent; we’d like to get the city's opinion on our proposal in time. Fingers crossed for an opening week planned in April, where we would like to show our project as well as the posters and communication around it. It wasn't always easy to push this project forward with the council, as it's sometimes hard to find the right people to help. We want to bring everything together and have a nice moment to showcase our work and invite people to come.

KOOZ What happens if the building application is approved — what are the next steps?

LM That's a good question. We're not the owners, so we won't be able to build with it. But once we have the building permit, it would be nice to share it. We need to think about how to do this, and we might need budgets, etc. It's not the direction we're aiming for, but it has an interesting effect. When the city approves it, it says to the citizens, "We agree with the vision of this building permission," setting a precedent or attitude that the city supports in their way of treating building permissions. Some projects are so big and complex that, to complete these permissions, we would need extensive expertise and funding. If we don't do it fully and the city approves it, it could set a precedent for other developers to submit incomplete building permissions. With the last one, we managed to complete the procedure, so the city can approve it if they follow us. The approval is more about expressing the city's attitude towards the project, not necessarily about it being built.

OG Most of the projects can be approved because the city doesn't need to be 100% behind them. If you were the owner, you could, for instance, take away facade elements from a building that used to look nice but has been clad with something ugly. The city would have to approve it because there's no reason not to. Even if the owner protests, they wouldn't have the power to deny this permission. It doesn't mean the owner has to do it, but there's no reason not to. This creates an interesting dynamic.

KOOZ The posters have a strong graphic identity. How does that distance itself from a more canonical building application to become a standalone manifesto or communication tool?

LD The posters are a communication tool between us and the city. The forms of the posters are an example of an old-fashioned, direct way of communicating. These yellow papers, in A0 format, are used to share information with the public. For instance, if you get a permit, you hang a yellow poster stating, "I have a permit" and outlining your plans. If something is officially sold in Belgium, you hang or tape a notice somewhere. This formal method of communication signals a change. We took this formal format and created a graphical, explicit poster with nice drawings and text, making it a project in itself. In Belgium, architects used to submit A0 folded plans for building permits. This format keeps returning, and it's highly communicative. That's why our posters are folded as well.

LM It could be seen as an irritating administrative issue, but we wanted to explore the graphic possibilities of this well-known format. In Brussels, when you hand in a building application, you also have to declare that you've informed the owner. So, the poster allowed us to send one to the king, for example. The proposal is made in a way that even if it doesn't become real, it exists in our imagination. If the drawing is strong enough, the power of imagination can transform how you see the space. Architecture based on imagination is not secondary; it can be even stronger. If you trust your imagination and make it real, nobody can take away that projection when you walk in the city. This only works when you take it seriously and make the objective very expressive.

Bios

Lauren Dierickx is an architect and urbanist. She leads Ghent-based architecture practice LDSRa, characterised by poetic architecture with a contextual approach. Lauren founded LDSRa in 2017 with Sander Rutgers, which was run in partnership with Rutgers until April 2024. LDSRa is supported by the city of Brussels under the ‘Renolab’-label for investigating strategies of re-use in a circular renovation project that emphasises intensive greenery. Lauren is a frequent guest critic on architectural juries and is a member of the ‘Board of Experts’ of the City Architect of Ghent.

Olivier Goethals studied Architecture and Urban Development. He is working simultaneously as architect and artist. In his wide practice he researches the connection between space and consciousness. Olivier is actively part of the art collective 019-ghent. He has made spatial interventions and artistic installations for venues such as Het Nieuwe Instituut Rotterdam, Hamburger Bahnhof Berlin, Biennial Lyon, Triennale Milano & Palais De Tokyo Paris. Previously at De Vylder Vinck Taillieu, since 2010, he has been teaching architecture at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven.

Laura Muyldermans is a Brussels-based architect. Within spatial interventions or architectural constructions, her practice searches for social relevance. Most of her work departs from casual conversations with peers, dwellers, or incidental encounters. As a result, her practice questions the expected and conventional experience of the existing context. Laura started her own practice in 2018 in combination with an academic position at KU Leuven, where she currently leads the design studio ‘Poetics of the Ordinary’ and in 2023, she received the Brussels Architecture Prize for Promising Young Architect.

Sander Rutgers currently teaches landscape architecture at the Amsterdam Academy of Architecture. From 2010 to 2015, he worked at the architectural firm de Vylder Vinck Taillieu. Since 2015, he has been working independently, in various collaborations, evolving his work from architecture to garden architecture. In 2020 he started Architectura Natura, an ongoing collaboration with garden architect Jan Minne. Architectura Natura seeks to broaden and deepen the endless universe of landscapes, gardens, garden architecture, plants and plant communities, creating gardens that spark the imagination.

Federica Zambeletti is the founder and managing director of KoozArch. She is an architect, researcher and digital curator whose interests lie at the intersection between art, architecture and regenerative practices. In 2015 Federica founded KoozArch with the ambition of creating a space where to research, explore and discuss architecture beyond the limits of its built form. Prior to dedicating her full attention to KoozArch, Federica collaborated with the architecture studio and non-profit agency for change UNA/UNLESS working on numerous cultural projects and the research of "Antarctic Resolution". Federica is an Architectural Association School of Architecture in London alumni.