In the Making - Brussels Atlas

The relation between the production of goods and the city has radically changed over the last century, leading to a strong disconnection that exiled manufacturing activities to marginal places, out of sight. In recent years, such confinement and its negative consequences - congestion, energy waste, pollution, employment unbalance - has gained attention worldwide.
However, the research on how contemporary manufacturers work, on their historical heritage and evolution, on the relation between different forms of production, on their role in cities is far from being complete.
In that respect, Brussels proves to be an interesting case study. The city is still dotted with remnants of a manufacturing past - industrie manufacturiere (FR), stedelijk maakindustrie (NL). The many former workshops and warehouses witness how manufacturing was once deeply integrated into the urban life and co- existed within the same neighbourhood, on the same site, and even within the same building. But those are not solely remnants of the past: many manufacturing activities are still present and rooted in a century-old tradition of living and working in the city, showing that they still have their place in Brussels.