In the spring of 2017, architects from 5 Estonian and 5 Belgian architectural firms took a deep dive into a number of urban design and architecture problems facing the city of Brussels. The issues were selected based on expertise from the firms:

• How could the security of critically important buildings in the city be improved?
• How could urban planning and architecture contribute to a more coherent society?
• How might a more digital society change the physical city around us?

The site-specific conclusions and solutions suggested by the architects form the core of the exhibition titled BEL:EST – A Laboratory for Europe in Brussels which was already on display during the Tallinn Architecture Biennale TAB 2017 in Estonia in Estonia in September this year. The exhibition is curated by Aet Ader, a promising Estonian architect from the b210 office, and Vice-Chairman of the Estonian Association of Architects, and Iwan Strauven (BOZAR Architecture).

The project is dedicated to the Estonian Presidency of the Council of the European Union and the celebrations of the 100th birthday of the Republic of Estonia.

The participating offices worked in following teams:

• Bogdan & Van Broeck (BEL) & Salto Architects (EST)
• AGWA (BEL) & b210 (EST)
• Delmulle & Delmulle (BEL) and Arhitekt Must (EST)
• L’escaut (BEL) and Kaos Architects (EST)
• Lassa (BEL) & PART (EST)