How to not Demolish a Building

Part of the Chapters series developed by the Belgian architects 51N4E, this third instalment tells the story of two office towers from the 1970s that have been transformed according to the principles of reduce/reuse/recycle.

Against all odds, the former World Trade Centre in Brussels is being repurposed in a previously unimaginable way.

After many years of vacancy, the building now represents a new approach to urban development and a showcase for dealing in a more sustainable way with older buildings threatened with demolition. And although the adaptive reuse of this building is unique, the underlying concepts and processes are not – a lesson on how not to demolish a building.