Étangs Noirs

A tangled relationship of three in search of a genuine connection through time and space.

In the 1970s, the lively neighbourhood around Brussels-North Station was destroyed to make room for ‘Little Manhattan’, a modernist dream with the two World Trade Centre towers as its crown jewels. The project failed, leaving the towers and surrounding area largely abandoned. Since late 2017, the owner of the towers has shown a renewed interest in the area. Closely witnessing the changes from their studio space on the 25th floor of WTC tower 1, Lietje Bauwens and Wouter De Raeve decided to enter the debate by making a film with the actors that claim a voice in the transition: politicians, an activist, the private owner, designers and others. Taking the WTC towers as its object, the film project unravels power relations between the different actors involved in the urban redevelopment, and traces the influx of new progressive, ecological and horizontalist ideas and their impact on the area.