La Maison du Peuple
Project undertaken as a 5th year student at the Architectural Association.
Tutors: Pier Vittorio Aureli & Maria Shéhérazade Giudici.
The project aims to challenge the notion of storage related to domestic space, a notion which is currently seen as the private accumulation of possessions. Other storage systems such as Collective Granaries involved a common practice, more democratically. For many Berber tribes, the communal storage was at the heart of their social life; hosting discussions, religious celebrations, or haphazard interactions between artisans. The Collective Granary sits between home and labour and therefore embraces reciprocity and mutual aid.
Inspired by these traditions, the project integrates a storage practice to support different social structures in Brussels. The Maison du Peuple (Home of the People) refers to the cooperative movement and its centralised structure where food aid and other social supports used to be accessible to everyone, making it a place of celebration.
The proposal sits around the typology of the central alley, dividing the Pantry and the Refuge. The Pantry can be used as a greenhouse in summer and a natural fridge in winter. This seasonal change influences the way people live and use the Refuge, where common spaces, social organisations and temporary housing are gathered to support each other. The project aims to change the current stigma around social aid, by giving a space that requires care and that is generous in return.
Analogous Map - Research about the collective pantry.
Photo of a collective granary, Morocco, 1947.
Available plot in the Marolles.
Proposal for a Maison du Peuple in the Marolles.
Set of plans based on the typology of the central alley.
The central alley: creating a pocket in the Marolles.
Opening the Maison du Peuple to the neighbouring school.
Relationship between the Pantry and the Refuge.
View from the shared terrace.
Rainwater collection, both feeding and maintaining the pantry.
Solidarity between social organisations.