Title

Author(s)

Melanie Tamm

Lionel Devlieger

Affiliation

Rotor asbl

Ghent University

DOI

https://doi.org/10.65686/AYKL1110

Keywords

Cladding, Negotiation, Polished Concrete

PP

919-926

How to Cite

Tamm, Melanie, Lionel Devlieger. “Case Study: MAD The Center for Fashion & Design in Brussels, Belgium.” In Proceedings of the International Conference on Adaptive Reuse. Volume 1, edited by Andrea Crudeli, Francesca Molle, and Emanuele Carrai, 919–926. Firenze: STH Press, 2026.

Abstract

This paper provides an insider view on the design and realization process of MAD, from the first competition concept in 2011 to its completion in 2017, narrated by the project leader for the Rotor team, architect Melanie Tamm. The original competition pitch suggested the demolition of all existing buildings on site, deemed not noteworthy, and the construction of a new complex. Rotor, teaming up with the architects V+, suggested a design based on keeping the existing buildings, which won the competition. The paper reflects on those moments where either the team members or the commissioner found themselves struggling with the starting point, namely that the acceptance of the existing is in itself an act of design. On site stood an abandoned wallpaper warehouse, comprising four heterogenous buildings connecting two façades in a dense inner-city block. An early modernist building on one side, a post-war pastiche of a medieval house on the other. In-between, behind a neoclassical façade, a 19th-century storeroom with slender cast-iron columns which had been raised several times to increase storage space. Followed a frantic process of mediating between conservation, additions and subtractions in which conventional architectural tools were confronted with the ever-resisting material reality of the original buildings. Existing spatial incongruities were consciously exploited; hitherto inconspicuous materials were explicitly showcased. Coherence was sought by cladding the whole, inside and out, with a library of whitish materials. The essence of the approach was captured in an image featured on the cover of French architecture magazine d’architectures (no. 253, May 2017): the zoomed-in photograph of a floor showcasing the delicate blending of different polished concretes: the old concrete of the existing building, the new concrete with carefully selected, light aggregates, bridging repairs in between. Everything neatly readable, but melted together to form a new whole.

Edited by
Andrea Crudeli
Francesca Molle
Emanuele Carrai

Publisher
STH Press, Firenze

ISBN Paperback – 9791281661141
ISBN Ebook – 9791281661158
DOI – https://doi.org/10.65686/SISY7263

Year
2026

Proceedings of
International Conference on Adaptive Reuse
hosted by The University of Pisa, Italy
15-19 September 2025, at the Gispoteca di Arte Antica dell’Università di Pisa.