Public lecture "Soft Power" by Kristiaan Borret for the Academy's "INCONTRI" programme
in conversation with con Jonathan Sergison

In Brussels, the Bouwmeester Maître Architecte (BMA) and his team advocate for better urban development, drive change in policy, and encourage a new generation of architects to participate. Both formal tools and informal practices play a role - together they form the Soft Power of the BMA. In the past 10 years, BMA has engaged in more than 800 projects, in architecture, landscape and public space. Topics currently on the agenda in Brussels are the integration of productive economy in the city, adaptive reuse of buildings and opening up to civil society. The ambition is to embrace complexity. That is why Brussels is a laboratory for the European city.

This will be an opportunity to discuss contemporary European urban issues with a leading figure in planning strategies and practices that can inform and regulate decision-making for the future of our cities, and to reflect together on ways of thinking that can support such decisions.

Kristiaan Borret was the Bouwmeester – Maître Architecte (BMA) of the Brussels Capital Region from 2015 to 2025. The BMA is a government appointed official who advocates for spatial quality in urban development from an independent position.
From 2006 to 2014 he held the similar position for the City of Antwerp and, since 2017, he works also for the City of Amsterdam as quality supervisor for two major urban transformation areas.
Borret is professor of urban design at Ghent University.

The event, which is part of a series of public events planned for the 2025/26 academic year, is introduced by the Dean of the Academy, Riccardo Blumer, together with the Director of ISUP, Jonathan Sergison, who promoted the event.

The event is streamed live on www.arc.usi.ch

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