The "Domestiquer le bureau" (Domesticating the Office) project aims to turn the Belgian Pavilion in Venice into a platform for the conversion of empty office spaces into housing.
Following Building Biospheres, organised by Flanders in 2025, the Belgian pavilion will return in 2027 with a proposal led by the Wallonia-Brussels Federation. This alternation between different language communities is a distinctive feature of the Belgian representation in Venice.
The "Domestiquer le bureau" project, presented by architecture and urban design office MULTIPLE, researcher and architect Gérald Ledent and film director Maïa Descamps, was unanimously selected by the jury from among four finalist teams, chosen from 25 entries.
The Belgian winners base their argument on the premise that many European regions have a large stock of under-occupied or derelict office buildings and that, conversely, access to housing is becoming increasingly difficult.
With Europe facing a housing crisis, rising material costs, soil artificialisation and emission reduction targets, the conversion of existing buildings is clearly set to be one of the major architectural issues of the coming decades.
The team also hopes to capitalise on Venice's international profile to launch a "Venice Pact", presented as a collective manifesto dedicated to the right to housing in Europe. Architects, researchers, lawyers, economists, organisations, politicians and local residents could be invited to take part in this discussion.
As a result, Belgium wants to go beyond simply showcasing an architectural solution, aiming to use the pavilion as a platform.
