The focus of this edition is on the topic of extraction.

Adding the hyphens, extr-a-ction reformulates our perspective on the use of resources to facilitate/organize our daily life: from excess to sufficiency, from linear to circular, from depletion to regeneration…aiming for an inclusive society in balance with nature.

Extr-a-ction calls for action and collaboration to change our (built) environment into a more sustainable one; to shift towards a more sustainable society!

Explored in the wider narrative of urban harvesting in Brussels, ParckFarm is the realistic case and with a festival participants define a series of interactions to share the opportunities of urban harvesting with the wider community.

Think and explore

We build our foundations in four, thematic theoretical sessions: materiality and circularity - biodiversity and landscape - climate responsive and lowtech design - socio-economic impact. A series of site-visits, workshops - by pioneering companies: BC Materials, Rotor and Sonian Wood - and hands-on experiments with locally harvested materials complement the explorative stage.

 Design & develop

Starting from their personal ambitions and interests, the participants search for local flows to build in a more regenerative way in Brussels. Taking up the role of material designer, manager, communicator, participation mediator and even activist, they develop a plan of action for a real-life intervention that makes the beauty and social added value of regenerative architecture tangible to a wide public.

This is a rather chaotic phase in which on-site research, hands-on prototyping, defining shared values, writing a manifesto and social interaction with a series of Brussels’ organisations – defining a narrative/action plan for the real-life intervention - are running in parallel.

In April 2022, the postgraduate participants, present their research and manifesto, as a living lab in Hasselt’s Z33 House for Contemporary Art, Design and Architecture, complementing the Same Same but different exhibition.

Co-create and distribute

This last phase refers to the action in extr-a-ction. Interacting with neighbours, local stakeholders, future change-makers, scientists, professionals, …. particpants disseminate the beauty and relevance of a built environment in urban harvested materials.

Theoretical backgrounds, hands-on skills, shared ambitions and activist mindsets come together in the real-life project. In ParckFarm the participants make the regenerative and distributive potential of urban harvesting tangible: they realise a series of small-scale interventions on-site and invite the neighbouring community to participate in the Parckfarm Festival activities.

wearebuildingbeyondborders

during their postgraduate year, the wearebuildingbeyondborders website is coordinated by the participants as a living platform to communicate  about the live projects with local stakeholders and other enthusiasts 

The Architecture of Extr-a-ction in a newspaper format 

Papers reflecting on the Architecture of Extr-a-ction will soon be published