The conversion of Saint-Gilles and Forest prisons

Behind their monumental façade, Saint-Gilles and Forest prisons blend into the districts that surround them. In 2022, the federal government is planning to move these prisons to Haren, in northern Brussels. Moving the prisons out of the city will mean many changes for the prisons themselves, but also for their former sites in Saint-Gilles and Forest. ARAU invites you on a journey through the history of the construction of these cellular prisons (of which some parts will soon become listed buildings) that accompanied the development of districts with particularly rich architecture and urban perspectives. Today, the unique integration of these penitential heritage buildings into their surrounding districts raises questions of their relationships with these districts which are not always obvious: how can the change of use of nearly ten hectares of land encourage new links with the city without changing the identity and the memory of these unusual complexes of buildings?

Duration: 2 hours

Place of departure: At the corner of chaussée d’Alsemberg and rue Arthur Diderich, 1060 Saint-Gilles