Mister Emma
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PORTRAIT : Shigeru Ban
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Shigeru Ban is certainly the first Pritzker Prize winner not to be a star architect. He works on normal commission work as well in disaster architecture. He likes to test all materials, he likes to look for their limits and believes that any material can be used in construction as long as safety is guaranteed.…
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PORTRAIT : Eduardo Souto de Moura
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The winner of the Pritzker Prize in 2011 studied sculpture before turning to architecture at the University of Porto’s School of Fine Arts. He embodies the « Porto School », formed by the emblematic figures of Fernando Távora and Álvaro Siza, which combines rigour and freedom, two approaches to construction that are difficult to reconcile, yet which…
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BOURSE, Brussels – Belgium
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Mister Emma has conducted an investigation into the history of the Bourse: what is the origin of this iconic building in the heart of Brussels and what were the stages in its majestic renovation? Mister Emma provides the answers, thanks to interviews with Philippe Close, Mayor of the City of Brussels, and architects Nicolas Bouquelle…
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FINSTRAAT, Brussels – Belgium
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Arian Schelstraete is an architect. He bought a former brewery warehouse on rue Fin in Molenbeek-Saint-Jean to build his home. He divided the building into 3 flats and a space on the ground floor available for quarters, for associations looking for extra space. To bring light into the heart of each flat, the architect designed…
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VIGNETTE, Brussels – Belgium
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Denis and Sandrine lived in rue de la Vignette in Auderghem, and were looking for a bigger house. A plot of land was available just opposite their home. They hired Karbon’ to design a house that would connect with the back garden. The architects proposed a wooden house and helped them to live in a…
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GRANDE HALLE, Brussels – Belgium
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Located in the heart of the Heyvaert district of Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, well known for the car trade to Africa, this flagship project of the « Petite Senne » sustainable neighbourhood contract is built on the site of a former industrial hall built in 1910 on the Quai de l’Industrie. The site, which extends into the interior of the…
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PARC PIERRE PAULUS, Brussels – Belgium
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The Parc Pierre Paulus was originally two independent gardens, one belonging to the Pelgrims house and the other to a convent. The English garden of the Pelgrims house had a theatrical organisation, a sort of décor composed of false rockeries, fountains and water features. Then the convent garden was dramatically opened up by the construction…
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PLACE MARIE JANSON, Brussels – Belgium
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As part of the « Parvis-Morichar » sustainable neighbourhood contract in Saint-Gilles, StudioPaolaVigano’ and vvv architecture urbanisme were commissioned to renovate the Place Marie Janson. The idea was quickly to connect the built front, the Saint-Gilles forecourt and the interior of the square by creating a sloping surface to let the water run off and collect it…
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BRASSERIES ATLAS, Brussels – Belgium
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In September 2023, the artists and craftsmen of the Brasseries Atlas organized an exhibition of their work and the history of the building. Émile Barret contacted ARCHI URBAIN to obtain the archives of Mister Emma’s interviews with Guido Vanderhulst in 2006 and Philippe De Bloos and Christophe Lambert in 2012. It was time to take…
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MARNIX, Brussels – Belgium
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The MARNIX building in the heart of Brussels was erected in 1964 by the American firm SOM (Skidmore, Owings & Merrill). It was extended using the same architectural grammar in 1989 and has become an emblematic building for the European capital, but the task facing Brussels-based A2M today is much more important: to bring the…