Past to Future La Grande Carrière Wincqz

This book documents the conversion and restoration project of the Grande Carrière Wincqz in Soignies, Belgium. Built in the 19th century to excavate the world-renowned Belgian blue stone, today, the quarry is home to an ambitious project: the Pôle de la Pierre, a training centre specialising in the stone industry.
The book covers the transformation of the site in three essays:
- a photographic essay by Marie Noëlle Dailly exploring the interior and exterior spaces and landscapes of the transformed site
- a conceptual essay inscribing the Soignies project in the more general context of the reuse of industrial heritage;
- a graphic essay that reconstructs the transformation of the site as a process of place-making as well as a collective process of meaning-making by means of documents, photographs of the construction phases, drawings, and sketches.

THE AUTHORS
Patrick Bribosia, Isabelle Toussaint & Matteo Robiglio - Architects
The three architects have assumed an architectural stance based on respect for all the archaeological and industrial traces of the site. They place particular emphasis on contemporary interventions, which should be clearly identifiable while simultaneously harmoniously incorporated into the existing environment. With this aim, they decided to use galvanised steel as the main material for the new additions. Selected for its sustainability and low maintenance, it acquires a bluestone-like patina over time and ensures that the buildings and the site retain a strong industrial character.
Architect and builder Patrick Bribosia has a master's degree in Conservation and Restoration of Immovable Cultural Heritage and is a professor of theory and design at the University of Liege's School of Architecture. He works on restoration and development projects in Wallonia, where he actively advocates self-build projects for the rehabilitation of heritage sites.

Architect Isabelle Toussaint specialises in the preservation of monuments and sites at the Raymond Lemaire International Centre for Conservation at the KU Leuven (RLICC) headed by Andrea Bruno. After spending 20 years with the architecture practice Avventura Urbana working on urban regeneration and community architecture in Italy and France, in 2011 Isabelle and Matteo founded TRA_Toussaint Robigiolo Architetti, which focuses on adaptive reuse and social architecture, both in Italy and Belgium.
Architect and urban planner Matteo Robigio is a Full Professor of Architectural and Urban Design at Politecnico di Torino where he founded and heads FULL - the Future Urban Legacy Lab -, an interdisciplinary research laboratory investigating transformative design approaches to architectural and territorial heritage. He is the author of RE-USA: 20 American Stories of Adaptative Reuse (Berlin 2017).

PHOTOGRAPHS
Photographer Marie-Noëlle Dailly graduated from the École de Recherches Graphiques (where she studied photography in the studios of Gilbert Fastenaekens and Jacques Vilet). She currently teaches at the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Charleroi, where she lives and holds the position of co-curator of the exhibition space Incise, which is dedicated to incorporating artworks into the public space. Since 2000, she has explored various photographic projects dedicated to architecture and urbanism and has worked alongside numerous artists and architectural offices in Belgium. Her recent work is featured in a number of publications, including the Guide d'architecture moderne et contemporaine de Charleroi, Belgium New architecture, Visions A+,...