Karbon’ is a Brussels cooperative that brings together architects and urban planners with the aim of developing a committed practice. In the context of a new climate regime, its members collaborate towards the definition of a rational architecture, rooted in its space and time, which gives cultural meaning to the act of construction.
Giving a cultural meaning to the act of construction implies a dual commitment. Firstly, working with what already exists, the context, that which is already there. This means positioning oneself as a stakeholder in the long-term evolution of the territory, i.e. in the continuity of what exists and in anticipation of what will exist. Taking the long-term view means approaching architecture in a transcalar way and seeking to understand the way in which it participates in the identity of the territory and the urban issues it underpins. In this respect, Karbon’ adopts a posture of upkeep and maintenance in its work, which considers the existing as heritage, as a common cultural foundation. Maintaining heritage implies questioning the qualities and potential of buildings from different periods of the city's construction. This approach is fuelled by a patient process of recognising and describing the resources present – material, spatial, social and historical resources, making it possible to consider the act of building in relation to the social and physical context over a long period of time, in construction traditions, in a constant concern for the history of the territory, in construction techniques, the origin and integrity of materials, as well as the quality of working conditions for builders on the construction site.
This approach makes each project an opportunity to produce specific knowledge which, over time and through projects, has made it possible to build up a detailed and articulated knowledge of the Brussels region. At the urban planning level, this involves describing the territory that underpins and accompanies the entire project process, in order to align with the rationale of existing structures and to continue, complete and prepare for the ongoing transformation of the city.
This notion of maintenance leads to the second commitment, that of a constant search for the minimal act. This notion is not seen here from an aesthetic point of view but from the point of view of the compositional method, that of the search for the minimum intervention to move from architectonics - the assembly of constructive elements - to architecture. We call this approach level 1 architecture, this level of design in a fragile balance between construction and aesthetic gesture.
This dual commitment is actually aimed at working on architecture in a way that addresses sustainability in the sense of duration. Considering construction in the long-term means considering it as a global process, including the cycles of producing, implementing, dismantling and reusing, and pursuing continuous research on bio-sourced materials. This consideration of the long term is understood as a practice, within the office, through our collaborative and open approach, and as production, in the care taken in the design of spaces that can be appropriated in different ways, at different times and by different types of audience.
From this perspective, the question of maintenance revolves around that of attachment – to objects, to uses, and more broadly to the attention paid to forms of welcome and empathy, which, considered in their relationship to urbanity, reflect a constant desire for inclusiveness.