THE BIOGRAPHY OF THE MODERNIST HOUSING ENSEMBLE ARENA DISTRICT BY RENAAT BRAEM

Abstract

This presentation is made in the light of a larger PhD research entitled “Re-reading modernist housing estates: an inquiry into the value of threatened heritage sites and the possibilities of adaptive reuse as a method for re-evaluation” (FWO 116421N). ”History is repeating itself”: modernists preferred a tabula rasa to build on; similarly the ‘northern blocks’ of the Arena district are now being demolished. Nevertheless, the Arena district was a modernist housing ensemble, constructed around 1960 by the prominent Belgian architect Renaat Braem (1910- 2001). The current discourse on “transition” is strongly based on technical and economic needs. This logic often determines the regeneration (or destruction) of modernist heritage. But what is secreted in these lived-in buildings? Is concrete not a reflection of an intense ‘experience’ and transgression? In the tension between the modern sterile idea and the inevitable ravages of time, much potential is hidden. The essay by Bernard Tschumi in which he links the decay of a modernist building to its essence, is used as inspiration: “(...) the contradiction between architectural concept and sensual experience of spaces resolves itself at the point of tangency: the rotten point, the very point that taboos and culture have always rejected” (Architecture and Disjunction, 1994). Building further on Tschumi’s theory, it seems that decay has always been ignored by the Modern Movement. Modernists do not like decaying constructions. The first part of the presentation focuses on the site’s rich palimpsest. Secondly, the link between Tschumi’s ‘rotting point’ and the potential of the ruin is put forward. In conclusion, the endurance of the ruin, as sculptural and functional structure is explored. The methodology is based on literature review combined with research by design.