The Noordwijk neighbourhood of Brussels was demolished in the 1960s. The plan was to build eight giant World Trade Center towers on the site, but this so-called “Manhattan Plan” became bogged down in fraud and crisis. Just three of the towers were eventually built, and today even these are half empty.
Emma van der Put, known for videos in which she takes a long-distance look at masses of people, chose one of these towers as a great vantage point from which to observe the population of Brussels during the time span of half a year. In a series of photos edited together, the small park in front of the tower is transformed from a picnic area into a tent camp for refugees. Tensions in the neighbourhood run high, in great contrast to the optimistic posters for the Manhattan Plan still hanging in the corridors of the complex. WTC is contemplating a no man's land between ideas of the past, the present state and plans for the future. The wide-ranging material was shot using a blue filter on the camera, an effect also referred to as Nuit Américain in early cinema productions.