On the occasion of The Ambition of the Territory project a publication was issued related to the work of the AWJGGRAUaDVVTAT multidisciplinary team and the synthesis of the workshops of the Atelier Flanders as Design. The publication was presented during the Towards a shared design agenda for Flanders seminar on 8 January in deSingel in Antwerp.

Our current well-being is built on the principle of consumption, of raw materials and goods, as well as land. This land, the territory if you like, therefore serves as the stage for growing conflicts between economic interests, demographic trends and ecological challenges. The Ambition of the Territory exhibition in the Belgian pavilion at the Biennale in Venice advocated for rethinking the entire urbanised territory and provides possible directions for systematically transforming the existing landscape into a more productive whole.

While the current policy classifies the different ways of using space into sectors, The Ambition of the Territory performed research by design into the synergies and shared gains. The interaction between housing, enterprise, food production and energy provides levers for gradually transforming highly urbanised Flanders into a sustainable and thriving region in the European Delta Metropolis.

The Ambition of the Territory is a project by AWJGGRAUaDVVTAT on the initiative of the Flemish Architecture Institute and the Flemish Government Architect Team. Project leader Architecture Workroom Brussels assembled an international and interdisciplinary team comprising the Dutch graphic designer Joost Grootens, the French urban planning agency GRAU, Belgian architects De Vylder Vinck Taillieu and the artist Ante Timmermans.

Type: Publication

Year: 2012-2013

Clients: Flemish Architecture Institute, Flemish Government Architect

Partners: Joost Grootens, GRAU, architects De Vylder Vinck Taillieu and Ante Timmermans