Anna Maguire

Urban Architecture

Industrial Ecology: Nature in the Anthropocene

Situated on an abandoned and overgrown marshalling yard in Brussels, this project aims to propose an alternative approach to the problem of decreasing biodiversity in urban spaces, advocating for the adaption of existing industrial corridors to create far-reaching ecological networks. 

Through historical, theoretical and spatial research this project questions society’s engrained understanding of the natural, reframing the role we play in its protection and development while arguing for its de-romanticisation in favour of pragmatic and systematic ecological solutions centring nature’s needs before human desires. 

The architectural expression embraces industrial ideologies - proposing a generic, replicable and adaptable architecture that expresses both anonymity and ornament while integrating the needs of non-human life based upon observations of existing industrial spaces. 

The programme – an ecological research facility, power station and visitor centre – focuses on providing visibility to the value of, and possibilities for, biodiversity in industrial and urban settings. 

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