1010 Architecture Urbanism

The urban fabric is characterised by highly compacted building blocks with many small civilian dwellings (2 layers with roof), commercial premises and the occasional recent apartment building. The contrast between this small-scale fabric and the large characterful buildings of the city hall, the Sint Denijskerk and the Abbey is great there. However, despite their imposing volume and height, the impact of these buildings on the scenographic experience of the urban fabric is limited. They are surrounded by wide park strips, which somewhat hide the monumental ambitions of the architecture at eye level. The surrounding streets do not really connect to the strong geometry of these buildings... You walk 50 metres further and oops... all the monumental magic is gone.

Our interventions are based on the following principles:

1. The water trajectory can be described as a sequence of streets, squares that meet in specific joints.
2. The run-off rainwater is used as a positive and playful dimension of the public space.
3. We want to make the public space more multifunctional, to encourage more different uses.
4. Developing a family of objects.
5. Mobility plays an important role in the experience of the centre.