November Talks 2026 – Ward Verbakel

The infrastructure of making: constructing a Baukultur for Brussels’ urban manufacturing: What infrastructures does it take to make production part of the city again? 
Drawing on two decades of research and practice in Brussels, this lecture links the spatial, infrastructural and policy conditions for urban manufacturing. From the productive city to the hybrid urban factory, it explores how manufacturing can coexist with housing, services and public space. It argues for a Baukultur that gives urban production not only a place in the city, but visibility, dignity and long-term spatial resilience. 
Ward Verbakel holds a degree as Civil Engineer Architect (KU Leuven) and Urban Design (GSAPP Columbia University). Since obtaining his professional license in 2006 he co-founded PLUSOFFICE urbanism and architecture, a practice in Belgium working on various construction and design research projects ranging from master planning and transitional urbanism to public buildings and housing projects. Their design research on the productive city and village urbanism has been internationally published and exhibited. As an Associate Professor at KU Leuven he coordinates the Urban Project master design studios and was the program director of the international master programs of Human Settlements and Urbanism, Landscape and Planning. He completed his PhD on the practice of Village Urbanism in overlap with his professional practice. Ward previously taught at GSAPP Columbia University, New York and, for 13 years, a member of the artistic board of the magazine A+ Architecture in Belgium.