Inventive solutions

plug plug plug

plug plug plug

Rue Masui, spotted by Tristan Boniver

Mosaic floor

Mosaic floor

One of my favorite Brussels musea is the Cinquantenaire Museum. It houses an amazing collection of historic items, ranging from medieval silverware, gothic sculptures and Flemish tapestries to 19th and 20th century furniture and interior design. The big internal square on the groundfloor in the history wing deserves a place in the collection of its […]

Metal collector

Metal collector

Often old appliances are illegally dumped in our neighborhood. A possible reasons can be that the city garbage service ‘Bruxelles Propreté’ is not always very effective. Throwing certain materials away in containerparks is paid, and can be expensive. Not everybody has a car to bring big objects to a container on the other end of […]

Cover Bank Table

Cover Bank Table

Rue du Canal 21, 1000 Brussels A multifunctional solution to protect a basement ventilation shaft from dust and rain. To low to be a seat, to high for a lid, it most resembles a coffee table.

New door

New door

Brocante Oxfam Solidarité – Rue Dubois-Thorn, 105, Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, Bruxelles Not sure where to start to describe this reparation, but that is exactly what is so exciting about it. At several moments in time, this door has been constructed and repaired in a non-planned, improvisational manner with materials that were at hand. I guess that at […]

Streetlight blocker

Streetlight blocker

Sint-Gilliskerkstraat, 1060 Saint-Gilles A construction to keep light from street lanterns away from the window of an appartment.

Stabilizer sacks

Stabilizer sacks

Boulevard Adolphe Max Plastic bags filled with sand are an effective way to stabilise postcards stands. Weather proof and versatile. Can be found all over the center of Brussels.

Giant exhaust

Giant exhaust

Metro Louiza, 1050 Brussels Crazy curled up pipe connected to the airconditioning system of the Leonidas chocolate shop in metrostation Louise. Less space consuming but equally weird alternatives could have been to cut the exhaust through the window pane such as in this shop in Saint-Gilles, or to lift up the pipe above head level […]

Artisanal fix

Artisanal fix

Wasserijstraat, Brussels

Crushed / Cosy corner

Crushed / Cosy corner

The urban furniture on the pedestrian area between the housing blocks situated between the Wasserijstraat, Rue des Tanneurs and Nieuwland are well known for its swift deterioration. Youth like to make noise, piles of trash arrise overnight, cars crash poles and fences. A typical accident that happens regularly is that the corners of the wall […]

Safety for all

Safety for all

On a short visit to Rotterdam two people crossed my path driving electric wheelchairs pimped with reflective materials, sensors, meters, flashing lights. The women tells me she and her son tour Holland to raise consciousness for safety conditions of wheelchair users. They came directly from Rijswijk, some thirty kilometers from Rotterdam. Her sons cap reads […]

Window string

Window string

Artisanal solution for broken window handle. Temporary men’s toilets, first floor of the Central railway Station, Rotterdam, Holland

Exit through window

Exit through window

Hallepoortlaan / Avenue de la porte de Hal

Broom support

Opzichterstraat, corner Rue van den Boogaerde A broom support for a satelite dish. The colouring pencil used to stabilise the broomstick in the iron wall mount shows that this low tech improvisation is well thought through and carried out in detail.

Postkot

Postkot

A DIY collective postbox for the inhabitants of Rue des Fleuristes 57. Not far from there, another example of the same species can be spotted:

City-stick

City-stick

Baross Uta, Budapest From our Budapest correspondent Robin van’t Haar www.cityscripts.com

Low tech reparation

Low tech reparation