Category | Cultural

Location | Molenbeek-St-Jean, Brussels, Belgium

Timeline | 2009

Status | Conceptual

Software | None

Type | Individual work

The end-of-year project for the first year of the BA in Architecture was on the relationship between form and environment in the design of public facilities. My focus for this forum for speech and books was on movement – through stories, through periods and through the building. This entailed a “floating” building, with removable stages, articulating volumes and perspectives, which change as one moves through the building, thereby heightening the storyteller’s words.

The layout consequently extends lengthwise, overlaying the foundations of a row of old buildings and adjoining the main building of the disused foundry. The length of the entrance calls the visitor in, enticing one to browse through the books and listen to the stories told while settling into a different universe. The work emphasized reflections, transparency and the mobility of the materials, walls and panels.

Contextualised brief with urban implications, designed for people, in respect of the heritage of the site and drawn towards building a long-term relationship between various generations of users, old and new architecture. Use of specific materials and integrated structure within the outline of existing site, on the foundation of an old foundry.