Design: Karel Martens, Aagje Martens / Illustrated (colour and b/w) / Paperback, sewn / 240 pages / Size: 17.0. x 24.0 cm
English edition / ISBN 978-90-5662-552-8 / € 35.00

In association with the Berlage Institute and A+ BOZAR.
With the support of the Brussels-Capital Region, the Netherlands Architecture Fund, HGIS (the Netherlands Cultural Fund), the Ministry of the Flemish Community, the Flemish Government Architect and the Wallonia-Brussels French Community.

The 50th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Rome in 2007 is emblematic for the 50th birthday of the European project itself. This symbolic point in time presents the ideal opportunity to turn the spotlight on the current and future role of Brussels as the Capital of Europe.
What image does Brussels want to project as a capital city within the European Union and beyond? What are the indisputable qualities of the European presence in Brussels? How can Brussels consciously do justice to its European mission and be a true embodiment of the European political project? Led by Pier Vittorio Aureli and Elia Zenghelis, an international team of 16 architects and urban plannerswho are associated with the Berlage Institute investigated these questions and devised a plan for the possible future of the Capital of Europe. Brussels- A Manifesto is a pamphlet that treats the city’s selfevident, hidden or forgotten qualities as building blocks for a tangible project that revolves around the relations between the European institutions and the city. By adopting this perspective, the pamphlet makes the discussion about the future of the European Union and its capital city concrete, palpable and accessible, rescuing it from a discourse that often remains abstract.
Brussels – A Manifesto is an exceptionally visionary project, presenting a poetic, engrossing and magical image of our communal capital city. With contributions by prominent thinkers such as Tronti, Zenghelis, Aureli and Strauven, this volume presents a powerful standpoint that links architecture’s -representative role to the very future of Europe.

Exhibition at BOZAR in Brussels from 15 March and extended to 16 september 2007