Erasmus Exhibition
Depaving and Delaying
Annotation
Every year, Flanders loses a significant part of rainwater that is no longer available to the local ecosystem. This water either runs off rapidly over paved surfaces or drains too quickly through compacted soils and engineered channels, leaving little opportunity to replenish groundwater or support natural processes. In our project area - the Eurometropolis Blue Park - this broken water cycle is clearly visible. As a result, flooding risks rise while deeper groundwater reserves, critical for drinking water, agriculture, and industry, are being steadily depleted. Our studio project responds to this challenge with a design that restores balance to the water cycle.
my key experience from erasmus
The studio focused on issues closely connected to the local environment and current challenges in Belgium. Specifically, it involved working on a territorial project, where we had to learn to integrate knowledge from policy, legislation, and project management into our own design proposals. The goal was to be able to work critically with these materials, analyse them, and compare them with our own observations on site. The key outcome was not only a high-quality design but also its legitimacy – the ability to justify it in terms of content, urban quality, and feasibility within a broader context. I found this approach to be very suitable.