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Discover the second monograph in the Heritage of Tomorrow series, published by Urban.
After a first issue about the Jean Cosse Forum in Saint-Gilles, Urban devotes this second issue to the contemporary extension of the Baroque Brigittines chapel in the Marolles neighbourhood, in which the City of Brussels’ Playhouse for Movement is housed.
The building, designed by the Italian architect Andrea Bruno (1931-2025), was inaugurated in 2007. The simple and efficient concept, which creates an identical duplicate of the historical volume as a matching twin covered in Corten steel, made Bruno the winner of the architecture contest organised by the city of Brussels. This perfect example of urban renewal, asserting itself by a strong but controlled contemporary architectural gesture, strengthens the heritage object it serves and restructures the public space surrounding it.
This publication is the result of thorough research by engineer-architect Alexandra Deprez (RLICC KULeuven), who analyses the context and core elements of this emblematic project by architect Andrea Bruno, and by the Brussels firm Group Planning (SUM). Historian Marc Meganck (urban.brussels) retraces the history of the Brigittines district from the Middle Ages until the 20th century, to understand the site up until its destructurisation caused by the North-South Junction.
The publication is preceded by an exclusive photographic report by photographer Adam Paluch.
To go further
Find out more about the repurposing of places of worship
The transformation of the Brigittines reflects a wider debate on the future of religious heritage.
A few years ago, Urban organised a conference there on the repurposing of places of worship. Building on this, the 13th issue of the Brussels Heritage magazine, entitled ‘Places of Worship’, explores the challenges associated with the conservation of these buildings as well as with finding new uses for them.
Find these resources online:
Not to be missed in the neighbourhood
Make the most of your visit to the Brigittines and discover the other developments that have contributed to the neighbourhood’s recent transformation.
Behind this building lies the Parc des Brigittines, which has been completely redeveloped as part of the ‘Jonction’ Sustainable Neighbourhood Contract (SNC). The project also won the 2nd edition of the Brussels Architecture Prize, in the ‘Public Space’ category, awarded by Urban in co-operation with A+ Architecture in Belgium.
Just a short walk away, you can also discover the project ‘TissAges’, carried out as part of the same SNC: a community housing scheme that includes an ecological daycare centre, a community housing co-operative providing accommodation for isolated people aged between 55 and 65 who have had unconventional life stories, and finally a community space, of which the entrance faces the Brigittines.
