As the European Union’s capital, Brussels finds itself in a schizophrenic situation: it is the 3rd richest metropolitan region in Europe, yet is confronted with an unemployment rate of about 20% and demographic growth that will reach up to 120% by 2030. Building for Brussels explores how other European cities have deployed architecture and strategic transformations as tools to respond to major urban challenges. The book presents 44 contemporary interventions by architects, including: BIG, MVRDV, OMA, Diener & Diener, Christian Kerez, West 8, Ateliers Jean Nouvel, Dominique Perrault, Xaveer De Geyter, and many more.

With editions available in English, Dutch, and French, the 324-page book addresses these complex urban issues in a manner accessible to a broad audience. A magazine-like format, designed by New York-based studio Project Projects, contextualizes the featured projects with essays; interviews with policy-makers, designers, scholars, and critics; as well as over 150 analytical charts, diagrams, and maps created specifically for the book.

For press inquiries or additional information, please contact: press@projectprojects.com
For more info and images of the book, see: http://projectprojects.com/building-for-brussels-book

Project Projects is pleased to welcome creative director Nicolas Bourquin as he visits from Berlin to discuss onlab, the award-winning Swiss graphic design studio. Bourquin’s talk will be the first in an ongoing series of programs at Project Projects.

Since founding onlab in 2000, Nicolas Bourquin has led the studio’s Berlin team with its mix of commissioned, collaborative, and self-initiated projects that explore ways to stage complex content and convey relevant topics while changing and playing with common perceptions. The studio’s work includes a city-wide identity system for Tramelan, Switzerland; a redesign of Domus magazine; and the German pavilion at the 2008 Venice Architecture Biennale. In addition to heading activities at onlab, Bourquin has co-edited and designed several books for Die Gestalten Verlag.

This is event is now full. A limited number of wait list spots may be available: rsvp@projectprojects.com