Urban planning and territories: a look at the evolution of Brussels
As part of the Heritage Days 2024, Urban organises, in collaboration with perspective.brussels, an exhibition showing for the first time the original documents of the Alpha Plan project as well as some of the preliminary survey maps.
These documents, preserved by Urban, allow us to trace the modern project for Brussels, which was to accompany the ongoing transformation of the capital into an international business centre.
The adoption of the organic law on urban and land use planning in 1962 led to the production of development plans, seen as the only effective instrument for achieving economic and social expansion in the country's various regions, which were divided into sectors for the occasion.
Groupe Alpha's urban planning architects were commissioned to draw up a preliminary draft for the Brussels agglomeration, after studying the capital's development within the country for almost 10 years between 1948 and 1957.
The preliminary draft is a reflection of its time, a highly technical document that demonstrates the designers' faith in the ability of modern architecture to reshape the urban landscape.
Drawn up between 1962 and 1967, then adapted by the Administration nationale de l’Urbanisme (National Urban Development Administration) until 1970, the plan was never approved, and was eventually totally abandoned in the climate of protest linked to the urban development of Brussels.
New: check out the Alpha Plan online!
As a complement to the exhibition, but also to preserve it permanently, Urban is offering you exclusive access to the panels of the Alpha Plan via its digital media library: Media Urban.
These digitised documents, accompanied by a detailed contextualisation and extracted from the content of the exhibition, allow you to explore the history of this ambitious project directly from your own home.
Practical information
OPENING
12.09.2024 → 18:00
- Free access
- At perspective.brussels
- Rue de Namur 59, 1000 Brussels
EXHIBITION
EXTENDED → 14.09 – 18.12.2024
