Real Estate Architecture : revisiting the apartment building

LIÈGE, EARLY 1960S. AS IN OTHER EUROPEAN CITIES, THE REAL ESTATE BOOM HAS JUST BEGUN. AS GOOD MODERNISTS, THE MAYOR AND A BENCH OF PRIVATE DEVELOPERS THOUGHT TO RENOVATE THE HOUSING STOCK BY REPLACING THE OLD URBAN FABRIC WITH A NEW HOUSING TYPE : THE APARTMENT BUILDING. IN A 15-YEARS TIME, MOST OF THE 19TH CENTURY HOUSES ALONG THE QUAYS AND THE BOULEVARDS HAVE BEEN SUBSTITUTED BY 12-STOREY HIGH MODERNIST CONSTRUCTIONS. THIS TRANSFORMATION RADICALLY CHANGED THE SKYLINE AND THE IMAGE OF THE CITY. AFTER 50 YEARS, THESE BUILDINGS HAVE COME TO THE END OF A LIFE CYCLE. WITH THE RISING COST OF ENERGY, THE CHANGE IN SOCIETY AND THE EVOLUTION OF NORMS AND STANDARDS, THESE MODERN ‘ICONS’ ARE BECOMING OUTDATED. THERE IS A GROWING NEED TO RECONSIDER THIS TYPOLOGY AND TO THINK ITS POSSIBLE FUTURE. THE SUMMER SCHOOL WILL EXPLORE HOW ARCHITECTURAL INTERVENTIONS COULD REVIVE THIS IMPORTANT HOUSING STOCK.