Educational Institution For Textiles and Ceramics In Cureghem
In Search For The Border, The Interzone And The City
N.J.A. van Roij (TU Delft - Architecture and the Built Environment)
PELJC Vermeulen – Mentor (TU Delft - Situated Architecture)
P.H.M. Jennen – Mentor
A.A.M. Hachez – Mentor (TU Delft - Teachers of Practice / A)
Leeke Reinders – Mentor (TU Delft - Architecture OTB)
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Abstract
The project is set in a fragmented neighbourhood called Cureghem in the south-west of Brussels. The newspapers often portray the neighbourhood as poorly developed with low living standards. The project considers that spatial transformation is only acceptable if it responds to current-day social and spatial issues. In the urban design of the project in Cureghem, the Senne is used to shape the park in the urban plan, not because the Senne is spolia, but because of the need for readable and climate-responsive exterior spaces. The smaller scale of the architecture aims to stimulate peoples feeling of belonging and ability to develop their crafts. In the design, the spolia of local craft and economic activity of textiles, ceramics and building materials is used as an inspiration for the program. Both in the urban plan and architecture, the spatial fragmentation is explained by zooming into the border conditions of the fragmented urban block. These conditions explain the current problems that are present. One of the theoretical explorations was to answer the question: What can be defined as a border or edge, what do they consist of, and are they culturally defined? To answer this question a lot of disciplines had to be addressed, from geology and archaeology to anthropology and the body. The research on this started with a very abstract approach to understanding borders, by zooming in on existing theories on borders in fields ranging from archaeology to performance art.