THE LARGE CITY
Charleroi, the denigrated capital of the Belgian hinterland, is the unlikely new paradigm for a contemporary city. What seems an incoherent jumble of manmade exuberance—a byproduct of modernity, really—transcends the infamous architectural dichotomy between the centre and the periphery. This is the Large City; dispersed and decentralised, it embraces its post-industrial condition. An artificial nature where zero-kilometre food production, electric bikes and trail running enable everyone to live large.
Without nostalgia for its industrial ruins, nor contempt for modernity, the city was the subject of a year-long studio led by Kersten Geers at the Academy of Architecture USI in Mendrisio. As a form of “applied theory”, the book presents students’ projects—an imaginary city—coupled with some real projects: Megafactory by OFFICE and Palais des Expositions by Architecten Jan de Vylder Inge Vinck & AgwA. The book features photographs of Charleroi by Stefano Graziani.
Title
The Large City
Office Without Office
Academy of Architecture USI, Mendrisio (Fall Semester 2023 / Spring Semester 2024)
Faculty
Kersten Geers, Chiara Malerba, Guido Tesio
Students
Fall Semester 2023 – Stefania Archilli, Luca Bonazzi, Stepan Bystrov, Emanuele Cipolla, Stefan Costache, Maria Vittoria Giani, Mara Mari, Maurin Matthys, Pau Miquel Jaume, Filippo Montagna, Kyrre Myreng, Martim Neiva de Almeida, Jinsu Park, Niccolò Pasti, Camillo Pasti, Martina Porcino, Rebecca Reggiani, Carlo Serra, Francisco Silva Santos, Ioana Suciu, Francesco Tucci, Carlo Valli, Thomas Whiting, Flavia Zorrilla
Spring Semester 2024 – Stefano Arlati, Benedetta Assolari, Gianlorenzo Bertolero, Pietro Bertolini, Hellen Boje, Sveva Bonapace, Ludovica Dalsasso, Silvester Fornasari, Filippo Gallone, Jacopo Gioanina, Monica Heleno Oliveira, Victoria Jabbour, Tina Li, Nadja Moser, Mathias Narbel, Marco Ossola, Enrico Peduzzi, Davide Peverelli, Mario Poma, Matteo Rea, Manuel Splendore, Filippa Söderholm, Takehiro Tsumuraya, Jakob Unterthurner
Text
Kersten Geers, Jelena Pancevac
Photography
Stefano Graziani
Graphic design
Joris Kritis with Emil Kowalczyk
Publisher
Everything Without Content
ISBN
978-9-4649-8998-4
Year
2025