Ways of Building, Ways of Seeing: Two Churches under Construction

In 1955, an emergency church was built in the suburbs of the Mol (Flanders); a larger, permanent church followed in 1968. Remarkably, both construction processes were documented on film, providing a rare visual record of mid-20th-century building practices, offering unique insights into site organisation, safety measures, labour conditions, and the use of machinery and technology.
This paper analyses both films to explore construction history from the perspective of the building site, situating them within broader societal developments and evolving sectoral regulations. By complementing the visual analysis with archival sources (such as payrolls, architectural and technical plans, and official reports) as well as relevant literature on construction site organisation and representation, the study compares the two projects to trace shifts in technology, safety, labour organisation and community involvement. In doing so, it captures a local story that reflects wider transformations in the construction sector during the 1950s and 1960s, offering a deeper understanding of historical building practices and their social and regulatory contexts.