Amélie Strebel

My project, ‘What’s Yours is Mine’, explores the topic of ownership of national identity.

It aims to respond to two statements I identified within my research; firstly that to share something, in this case, space, it needs to be divided and secondly, that to have deeper connections with a place, you have to interact, have connections and form links with other people.

In my work, I have redesigned the Grande Place Square in Brussels, to connect people with the square, each other, and those from different backgrounds and places. Through research into my heritage as a half-Swiss, half-Belgian, and similar divides within other countries, I identified that language differences can individualise and separate people. Belgium has three national languages, Dutch (Flemish), French and German. As Brussels is the only bilingual zone in Belgium, speaking Dutch and French, I wanted to create a space that brings people together, to relate with others and to develop a more positive connection between the northern Dutch-speaking and the southern French-speaking Belgians.

My outcome uses 8-pointed stars directed to each of the 8 paths in the square, allowing people to have better access to any levelled seating area, guiding people to the seating and allowing them to form new links and connections within a shared but divided space – since there are 3 separate stars. The protective canopies bring together two attributes the Northern and Southern Belgians are known for, weaving and mining metals respectively. This can be seen in the flow of the metal canopies that weave around the square giving an alternative and more protected route for people to experience collectively, the canopies’ designs help focus and bring people to their individual centres when evading the elements of too much sun or rain.