Small-scale heritage; the canary in the coalmine.

Flanders, a Belgian region, has a historically grown dense network of routes and paths, linking towns and villages on an average one-day walking distance. Within the fabric we detect numerous small-scale historical buildings and industrial relicts with an identity importance way beyond the artefact itself, representing an old mesh, entwined with societal narratives.
Through newly developed methodologies we both examine the importance of this daily collectively used mesh and unveil and carefully map new complex realities such as the increasing ‘requisition’ of rural built heritage and the reframing of its boundaries as a tangible warning of a continuous urbanisation process.