SEE U WINS VISIT.BRUSSELS AWARDS 🏆
The award in the "Public Initiative 2019" category went to See U, the temporary occupation of Usquare.brussels initiated by Société d'Aménagement Urbain (SAU).
For more than 10 years, the Visit.brussels Awards have been honoring projects that raise the profile of Brussels, both nationally and internationally. In each of the competition's nine categories, different initiatives that improve the quality of the welcome reserved for visitors to the Capital Region are put to the public vote. The three projects nominated by the public in each category are then submitted to a jury made up of professionals from the Brussels tourism industry. Last March, See U, the temporary occupation of Usquare.brusselsthe conversion project for the former Fritz Toussaint barracks in Ixelles, initiated by Société d'Aménagement Urbain (SAU), was nominated by the public but the Visit.brussels Awards ceremony scheduled for early April was cancelled due to the initial containment. Now, on December 15, visit.brussels has announced that See U has won this category following the jury's vote.
Gilles Delforge, Director of SAU, is delighted "We're delighted to be recognized by both the general public and the jury of tourism professionals. It's truly satisfying to see the SAU's innovative approach to this temporary occupation honored in this way. for this temporary occupation and the high quality of the work done by the group (Creatis / D-Side Group / Troisième Pôle) that the SAU appointed in 2018 to manage it on a day-to-day basis, and the dynamism of the hundred or so project promoters we've welcomed to the site since then. This is an encouragement for all of us to keep up the collective momentum in bringing Usquare.brussels to fruition. Fritz Toussaint barracks into a new district that is open, mixed and dynamic, urban and friendly, university and international, sustainable and innovative."
Edouard Meier, head of the Creatis / D-Side Group / Troisième Pôle consortium, explains: "We're delighted to contribute to the See U project, and to show that initiatives like those of Société d'Aménagement Urbain can help invent new uses for public buildings and projects. Since its opening, See U has become a veritable urban laboratory, a public and collective success story that showcases Brussels' economic and social projects, and proposes a new, inclusive way of building the neighborhood.
In 2018, the SAU, the Region, the universities and the commune of Ixelles decided to take advantage of the preparatory phase for the conversion of the former barracks to develop a transitional management project. Objectives: to make temporarily unoccupied spaces available to citizens, associations, cultural and entrepreneurial initiatives, etc.; to contribute to the liveliness of the site; to begin its gradual opening up to the neighborhood; to secure the premises by avoiding the problems associated with abandoned wastelands.
To realize these ambitions, the SAU implemented a very open selection procedure, in two parts: the appointment by public contract of a transitional manager for the entire site, the Creatis / D-Side Group / Troisième Pôle consortium; and a Public Call for Expressions of Interest to identify the first temporary occupants of parts of the site. Once the necessary permits had been obtained, temporary occupation was inaugurated in spring 2019 and the See U team then continued to welcome projects, reaching a cruising speed of around 100 initiatives and around 80,000 visitors during the first 12 months of activity.
Complete list of winners