From Handmade Gravel to Handmade Urbanism
Two experimental graphic protocols for humanitarian modelling in an unplanned city
This symposium invites participants to explore new graphic methods for urban and architectural research.
In Bukavu, Eastern DR Congo, ongoing internal conflict has blurred the boundaries between economic migration toward urban centers and displacement toward safer areas. These overlapping movements have driven rapid, largely unplanned urban growth. The city’s development challenges call for imaginative debate and innovative design thinking.
The symposium presents and discusses two experimental graphic protocols developed within the framework of the VLIR-TEAM project “From Handmade Gravel to Handmade Urbanism.”
Protocol 1 — La Très Grande Maquette (TGM)
In April 2024, around 150 architecture students from the Université Catholique de Bukavu (UCB) built a gigantic model of their city — La Très Grande Maquette (TGM).
This model represents a first attempt to visualize and test pragmatic elements necessary for the city’s expansion. The TGM workshop explored Bukavu’s “implosion and explosion” — scenarios for inclusive and sustainable urban transformation.
Through the TGM, Bukavu’s students and researchers developed a prospective vision addressing challenges such as rapid population growth, high resource consumption, and climate pressures.
Protocol 2 — Humanitarian Design in an Unplanned Neighbourhood
In July 2025, the research group The Future of Humanitarian Design (HUD) co-organized a workshop titled Learning from Bukavu: Humanitarian Design in an Unplanned Neighbourhood.
Participants collected visual data using mobile phones, transforming everyday technology into a “hacking” tool for observation, learning, and reimagining the urban environment.
The workshop produced “sensitive cartographies” — visual narratives that capture Bukavu’s development challenges and potential. Starting from the small scale and from within the community, these graphic explorations seek to reappropriate mapping as a design tool, enabling alternative and locally grounded planning proposals.
An accompanying exhibition presents large-scale visual works generated through both protocols.
Programme
14:00 — Welcome and Introduction of the VLIR-TEAM Project | Sara Geenen (UAntwerpen, IOB), Mac Mugumaoderha Cubaka (UCBukavu), Dag Boutsen (KU Leuven), Bossissi Nkuba (UAntwerpen, IOB)
14:30 — The Broader Context | Elien Spillebeen (Journalist, @MO* Magazine)
15:00 — La Très Grande Maquette | Carl Bourgeois (KU Leuven), Ruben D’hont (Plano Architecten & KU Leuven),Dag Boutsen (KU Leuven)
15:30 — Coffee Break
15:45 — Learning from Bukavu | Javier Fernández Contreras, Aida Navarro, Damien Greder (HEAD – Genève, Haute école d’art et de design)
16:15 — Decolonial Approaches | Jeanne Autran-Edorh (Studio NEiDA)
16:30 — Discussion (moderated by Bossissi Nkuba) | Panel: Charlie Namuyamba (UCB), Divin-Luc Bikubanya,Judith Lemaire (ULB), Raymond Lutala, Chandelle Cifende Akonkwa
17:15 — Opening of the Exhibition