International Congress Colonial and Post-colonial Landscapes: Architecture, Cities, Infrastructures, Date: 2019/01/16 - 2019/01/18, Location: Gulbenkian Foundation, Lisbon, Portugal

Publication date: 2019-01-16

Author:

Pascal Ilunga, Christian
Pak, Burak

Abstract:

Decolonization through architectural design is a challenging task and an under­explored field. As Petti et al.(2013) revealed, this task requires rethinking the urban struggles for justice and equality ­not bound in space or in time­ as an ongoing critical practice. In parallel to this line of research, this study is an exploration to extend the concept of decolonization beyond territorial domination, towards the construction of different ways of thinking and living together. In this paper, we focus on a neighborhood in Brussels called “Matongé”. This name originates from Mantongé in Kinshasa from where Congolese students started to move from and settle in the beginning of 1960’s. Today, it’s a superdiverse neighborhood with Subsaharan residents as well as expats and high­income professionals. The pressure of gentrification coming from the nearby EU institutions is slowly displacing the African population and leading to the loss of socio­spatial diversity. In this context, the research questions explored in this study are: ⁃ How can a social architectural intervention be a means for new ways of linking communities with an eventful past? ⁃ How can we facilitate decolonization in Matongé through architectural design? ⁃ How can architecture itself be decolonized? To address these questions, the followed research method involved a study of the urban situation and everyday practices in Brussels Matongé in relation to Matongé in Kinshasa. This was preceded by a research on decolonization strategies and inspiring cases around the world which led to the development of urban strategies for the neighborhood. These were tested in Place du Bastion, a square frequently used for political representation by the Congolese; recently renamed as “Place Lumumba”. This resulted in the development of a counter urban project on this square, a tower of mutual learning facilitating hybrid practices of decolonization which aims at remembering, reframing, renaming, discovering, sharing and storytelling.