Rob brink urbanism

Rob Brink The Noordrand of Brussels and it’s hidden potential 06-24754169 rob-brink@live.nl brinkanism.nl https://nl.linkedin.com/in/rob-brink-59075712 Urban designer at Gemeente Amsterdam

Amsterdam Academy of Architecture Graduation Projects 2015-2016

Urbanism

Rob Brink The Noordrand of Brussels and it’s hidden potential This plan proposes to start looking at the Noordrand as an integral part of a large urban system, and not as a bordering wasteland between the regions of Brussels and Flanders. Strategic interventions in the landscape, a change in the way the mobility is managed in the region, and a new vision on the built and unbuilt program is desperately needed in Brussels, and especially the Noordrand.

Brussels is shaped alongside the many valleys and streams in the landscape. The growth of the city in the 19th century urged king Leopold the 2nd to ask Victor Besme to draw up and carry out a coherent composition of boulevards, parks, public buildings, connected by trams, trains and trolleys, which still benefits the city today. Unfortunately, developments in the 20th century were carried out with less detail for urban quality, leaving Brussels with a Noordrand filled with infrastructural barriers, loveless neighbourhoords, grey and incoherent working zones and large amounts of residual spaces. However the underused potential of gardens, fields, litle plots of forrests, valleys and parks, together with little treasures such as villagecenters, churches, industrial heritage scattered trough the Noordrand gives us unique tools to work with.

One of the biggest untapped potentials of the Noordrand is it’s strategic position between the airport and the city center, which could offer the same development potential as Amsterdam’s Zuidas and Zurich’s District 11.

The demographic pressure on Brussels is rising, as it is expected the city will grow with 100.000 inhabitants the next 10 years, which is twice the growth Amsterdam is expecting. This growth can however be accommodated within the Noordrand, without sacrificing the open spaces it still has.

The core of the Noordrand will however be shaped and fueled by an international neighborhood surrounding the new Bordet Station. This new station will play an important role in the urban traffic system, offering great mobility options. As this plan will demonstrate, the qualities of the landscape, the excellent mobility, the close proximity of the NATO headquarters offer a number of conditions that will attract businesses, hotels and facilities towards the neighbourhood around Bordet station.

The existing infrastructure needs to be put to better use in order to lower the traffic pressure, and to make the shift from a commuter-traffic system, focussed on in- and out-going traffic, towards an inter-urban traffic system, connecting the neigbourhoods of the city. By adding a ring of public transport and bike lanes trough the Rand of Brussels and Flanders, the existing network as a whole can start functioning as a multimodal system. The public transport in Brussels will accomodate door-to-door mobility, and will make it easier to use public transport for other activities next to commuting as well, such as visiting a park, a concert, or visiting friends in a different part of the city.

The existing open spaces and parks need to be used to improve the living quality, ecology and identity of the Noordrand. This plan proposes to connect the different spatial needs for development, by using the new development to frame the existing open spaces, in order to value it and upgrade these spaces to public parks.

By redesigning the flanks of Schaarbeek Vorming as a continuous space, a park on the scale of the region will be developed, which can connect the city of Brussels with Flanders as a green lung. This park, mostly situated on the flanks of the Zenne valley, brings back the identity of Brussels as a city of valleys and streams.

Graduation date 16 11 2016

Commission members Riëtte Bosch Riikka Tuomisto Roeland Dudal

Additional members for the examination Hans van der Made Ad de Bont

Rob Brink

Noordrand Brussels, existing situation

havenbedrijf NMBS Navo vliegveld Zaventem stedelijk distributiecentrum lokaal distributiecentrum energie opwekking afvalverbranding afval recycling waterwinning waterzuivering voedseldistributie

stedelijk park begraafplaats natuurpark cultuurlandschap vergroenen laan teruggebrachte beek nieuwe vijver venster

trein metro tram park weide bos agrarisch gebied beek verdwenen beek oppervlaktewater hoogtelijn solitaire bomen structurerende ruimte (straat, plein) stedenbouwkundig ensemble anker, herkenbaar gebouw afgesloten domein veldweg (verdwenen en bestaand) treinstation + radius centrale plek betekenisvol gebouw gebouw met afwijkende schaal gebouw van architectonische kwaliteit industrieel erfgoed

Noordrand Brussels, proposed strategic framework

frequente treinverbinding metro doortrekken naar Bordet tramverbinding vrijliggende fietsroute mobiliteitsmagneet

2 km

Urbanism

havenbedrijf NMBS Navo vliegveld Zaventem stedelijk distributiecentrum lokaal distributiecentrum energie opwekking afvalverbranding afval recycling waterwinning waterzuivering voedseldistributie

stedelijk park begraafplaats natuurpark cultuurlandschap vergroenen laan teruggebrachte beek nieuwe vijver venster

trein metro tram park weide bos agrarisch gebied beek verdwenen beek oppervlaktewater hoogtelijn solitaire bomen structurerende ruimte (straat, plein) stedenbouwkundig ensemble anker, herkenbaar gebouw afgesloten domein veldweg (verdwenen en bestaand) treinstation + radius

frequente treinverbinding metro doortrekken naar Bordet tramverbinding vrijliggende fietsroute mobiliteitsmagneet

centrale plek betekenisvol gebouw gebouw met afwijkende schaal gebouw van architectonische kwaliteit industrieel erfgoed

4 km

Brussels 19th century: coherent composition of the city

Brussels 21st century: fragmented development and disconnected communities

Amsterdam: development of Zuidas as strategic intervention between city and airport

Brussels: the potential of the Noordrand, Bordet station in specific, uncovered

Public buildings and parks

Boulevards and mobility

infrastructure as barrier

residual open spaces

strategy: uncover the jewels

strategy: extend treelined boulevards

strategy: commuter to multimodal traffic

strategy: frame and upgrade open spaces

Rob Brink Neder-Over Heembeek Meudonpark behind on maintenance

canalzone and Schaarbeek Vorming is a barrière

remise MIVB / STIB Houtweg

badly accesible park

business area is underused current NATO complex closes in 2018 current Bordet station

Jules Bordetlaan

cemetery of Brussels

Current Bordet-axis: large utilitarian facilities create barriers between neighbourhoods, lack of identity and unused international potential

urban logistics Zennriver brought back Meudon Park new foodmarket with public functions on roof

bike bridge connects canalzone

International school Bordetpark International quarter

Steilrandpark

Bordet station Elisabeth quarter

Future Bordet-axis: the connection between international program, urban logistics, laidback neighbourhoods and recreational areas

Urbanism

~

2,2 m

4m

7,2 m

Development of housing and the Steilrandpark along the Zennevalley flanks

Existing open spaces are framed and upgraded to a park on a regional scale

7,5 m

6m

7m

6m

7,5 m

3,5 m

8m

3,5 m

38 - 42 m

View from one of the new housing developments framing the upgraded park

3,3 m

~

40 - 50 m

3m

2,5 m

4,7m

2,5 m 2 m

~

Rob Brink

~

3,5 m

7,5 m

3,5 m

8m

~

4,2 m

7,5 m

6m

7m

6m

7,5 m

3,5 m

3,5 m

8m

38 - 42 m

Bordet station is the new multimodal node in the Noordrand, allowing the international quarter to develop

Bordet station as a new public building, bridging barriers, stitching local roads, the transversal ring, the international quarter, the NATO and the upgraded Bordetpark together

6,5 m

25 m

View from Bordet station, looking over the Bordetpark into the valley of the Zenne

6,5 m

4m

~

2,2 m

6m

~

8m

4m

7,5 m

Amsterdam Academy of Architecture Architect, Master of Science Urbanist, Master of Science Landscape Architect, Master of Science

Some 350 guest tutors are involved in teaching every year. Each of them is a practising designer or a specific expert in his or her particular subject. The three heads of department also have design practices of their own in addition to their work for the Academy. This structure yields an enormous dynamism and energy and ensures that the courses remain closely linked to the current state of the discipline.

The courses consist of projects, exercises and lectures. First-year and second-year students also engage in morphological studies. Students work on their own or in small groups. The design

projects form the backbone of the syllabus.

On the basis of a specific design assignment, students develop knowledge, insight and skills.

The exercises are focused on training in those skills that are essential for recognising and solving design problems, such as analytical techniques, knowledge of the repertoire, the use of materials, text analysis, and writing. Many of the exercises are linked to the design projects.

The morphological studies concentrate on the making of spatial objects, with the emphasis on creative process and implementation. Students experiment with materials and media forms and gain experience in converting an idea into a creation.

During the periods between the terms there are workshops, study trips in the Netherlands and abroad, and other activities. This is also the preferred moment for international exchange projects. The Academy regularly invites foreign students for the workshops and recruits wellknown designers from the Netherlands and further afield as tutors.

Graduates from the Academy of Architecture are entitled to the following titles: Architect, Master of Science; Urbanist, Master of Science and Landscape Architect, Master of Science.

Urbanism

Architects, urbanists and landscape architects learn the profession at the Amsterdam Academy of Architecture through an intensive combination of work and study. They work in small, partly interdisciplinary groups and are supervised by a select group of practising fellow professionals.

There is a wide range of options within the programme so that students can put together their own trajectory and specialisation.

With the inclusion of the course in Urbanism in 1957 and Landscape Architecture in 1972, the Academy is the only architecture school in the Netherlands to bring together the three spatial design disciplines under one roof.