The Cuesta (ˈkwɛstə) of the Rupel Region.

In this publication we want to present the design research projects of eight students of the International Master of Architecture – Resilient and Sustainable Strategies KU Leuven through which they envisaged new challenges for the cultural heritage of the Rupel region situated in the Province of Antwerp, Flanders Belgium along the river Rupel and covering the municipalities of Hemiksem, Schelle, Niel, Boom and Rumst.
What we particularly want to point at is how we had to get immersed into the region to be able to transcend an object-focused approach and how we detected the formal and informal use of the place. The objective was to take these experiences within the design process of either new projects or projects of adaptive re-use and restoration to come to more nuanced and socially better accepted architectural projects.