The Heyvaert City Project

T H E H E YVA E RT C I T Y P R O J E CT Strategies and guidelines for the city in transition

The Heyvaert City Project Architecture for Productive Neighbourhoods

University of Ghent Master in Architecture and Urban Planning 2015 | 2016 Master Studio B Prof: Joachim Declerck Prof: Bert Gellynck Ian Kuppens Zuzanna Rucka Claudia Scaravaggi

Table of contents

1

Hypothesis

2

Strategies

3

p.7

1.1 Always in transition 1.2 Relevant position in Bruxelles 1.3 Productive spot 1.4 Social challenges 1.5 Already in transition 1.5 Vacancy of spaces

p.41

2.1 Ian Kuppens: Towards an interactive production of mobility 2.2 Zuzanna Rucka: Visible/Invisible 2.3 Claudia Scaravaggi: The Heyvaert Food Network

Proposals

p.84

3.1 Towards an interactive production of mobility 3.2 Visible/Invisible 3.3 The Heyvaert Food Network

We want to change the neighbourhood but not the people.

Hypotesis 1

1

Hypothesis The Heyvaert district has always been a very adaptive quarter. The different geographical and economical changes were accompanied by various flows of people looking for work.

Nowadays the canal district gets a renewed interest from private investors and public authorities.

Many property development projects are emerging, wishing to replace production activities with luxury housing, commercial and recreational activities, resulting in gentrification and marginalisation of the immigrant community. However Brussels, the capital city of Europe, is facing a continuous and massive demographic growth. By 2060 the region, according to the researches, will reach 1,5 million inhabitants. In this alarming context the Heyvaert district is one of the most relevant destinations of those foreign people that are looking for a better future in the Arrival City.

We see it as a task of the city in transition to use the potential of the relationship between the post-industrial building morphology and the social aspect of this neighbourhood without trying to replace it with a gentrified model. We want to change the neighbourhood but not the people.

7

8

Hypotesis 1. 1

1.1 Always in transition In this brief presentation of the history of the Heyvaert district we want to emphasise the reoccurring relationship between the economical activities and the social changes of this neighbourhood. The aspect of the district as a workplace has always been very closely connected to the migration waves, first within Belgium, from the Flemish community, then from far abroad, from countries like Morocco, Tunis and Lebanon. When economic activities seize, most of the arrival people continue to live in this neighbourhood.

9

Morphological and social evolution of the area

18th century Before the industrialisation era Heyvaert was a rural hamlet consisting of meadows and mills. The presence of the river gradually brought cotton factories, dry cleaners, woollen mills, laundries and all other activities in that require water. The river valley had also earlier been seen as a place with a potential for leisure activities, but those plans were never implemented.

10

19th century The area undergoes series of new developments. The construction of the canal of Charleroi takes control over the swamps, and creates a sort of peninsula that brings progressive industrialization into its surroundings. The famine in the flemish countryside pushes the first group of immigrants to look for work in this area.

Hypotesis 1. 1

19th-20th century The opening of the slaughterhouses in 1841 and the meat market of Abattoir in 1890 continues attracting new businesses within food and leather processing as well as the education centres like the new School of Veterinarians.

The increase in the number of employed factory workers as a result of WWII leads to the construction of hundreds of new houses inserted in the free space between the factories.

The Petite Senne is covered.

11

The current situation In 1950 Heyvaert still has 525 factories and handicraft enterprises. Economic development in the second half of the 20th century continues due the arrival of a large number of guest workers from Italy, Tunisia and Morocco. However the petrol crisis of the ‘70 causes a severe recession. Between 1974 and 1988 half of industrial jobs disappears. The abandoned plots are soon filled in with a new economic activity: the import-export of second-hand cars to Lebanon and Africa.

Economical development timeline

1832 Construction of the canal of Charleroi, in order to facilitate the carbon supplies necessary for the industrialization of Brussels. The operation creates a sort of peninsula and it brings progressive industrialization of its surroundings, especially in the textile sector.

XII century The name of the municipality "Cureghem" appears in the early 12th century. It comes from the franc "Curo-inga-heim" which means "The domain (heim) of the family (Inga) of the Lord Curo.

12

1100

1841 Inauguration of the slaughterhouse Brussels near Porte de Ninove, out of the heart the city and on the edge Cureghem (on the site of the School of Arts and Crafts).

1872 In 1864, the intensive urbanization of the city center causes the displacement of the station Bogards (Rouppe) to a new location, giving birth to the Gare du Midi and its extension, in 1872, Cureghem the station at the intersection channel and chaussée of Mons. The water presence and the railway allow this area to become an industrializated fulcrum.

1874-1876 The City of Brussels proposes the establishment of a slaughterhouse in Cureghem and wants to attach a piece of the territory of Saint-Gilles and Anderlecht. The negotiation between municipalities fails.

1700 1500

XVI century Construction of the Petite Canal de la Senne that connected the other canals (causes various overflows of the area) and helps to achieve the drying required to implement human activities.

XVIII century Cureghem is still a rural hamlet consisting of meadows and mills.

The presence of the river gradually bring cotton factories, dry cleaners, woolen mills, laundries and “indienerries” (printing on cotton), all activities in which there is necessity of water.

1800 1845-1850 The famine in the flamish campaigns pushes the first group of immigrants to look for a work in Cureghem.

The growth of the community continued unabated throughout the 19th century, leading to cramped living conditions, especially near the canal.

1867 Starting of the vaulting work Senne in the city center after the outbreak of the cholera.

1871 The idea emerges of decentre the slaughterhouse of Brussels to eliminate the nuisance of the local residents.

1879 Inauguration of the Hotel communal Anderlecht Council Square in Cureghem, that the Commune destined to become a bourgeois neighborhood.

The presence of the bourgeoisie in Cureghem remains limited both in time and in space.

1888 Creation of the company Abattoirs and Markets Anderlecht-Cureghem. The marshy ground of 20 ha is drained and the Senne is diverted.

1890 Inauguration of the Abattoir of Cureghem. Around the slaughterhouse develop meat processing shop, butchers, restaurants, tanneries, meat wholesalers, leather workers, dyers, oil mills and candles factories.

Hypotesis 1. 1

1950 Cureghem still have 525 factories and handicraft enterprises.

Economic development in the second half of the 20th century is made possible by the arrival of a large foreigners workforce.

1892 Construction of the new School of Veterinarians on the boulevard de la Révision (on the current boulevard Poincaré).

1898 Demolition pf the slaughterhouses of Saint-Josse in Molenbeek (where there is Tour & Taxis).

1910 Starting of the industrial decline, it accelerates with the Great Depression.

1955 The Italian immigrant workers who leave the mine settle particularly in Brussels where the work of Expo 58 and factories asked a lot of manpower. From that moment, other immigrant workers arrived in recruiting from Spain and Greece.

1960 The housing of the Square Albert is settled on a ex-industrial land. The movement of deindustrialisation starts.

80’s In the 1980s and 1990s, new European standards the treatment of meat were put in place, which has the consequence that many meat wholesalers have moved to areas located outskirts of the city and many spaces and warehouses have been released.

1987 Stables, slaughtering, refrigeration, cutting and meat market are combined into a single building.

The new slaughterhouses finally manage to get their export stamp.

90’s After the fall of the wall Berlin, arrival of refugees from Eastern Europe.

1900 2000 1930-40 The rise of Nazism and pogroms in Russia and Poland cause the massive arrival in the neighborhood of Jewish migrants which works on the sectors of leather goods and textiles.

The increase in the number of employed factory workers led to the construction of hundreds of houses inserted between factories.

1930 The Petite Senne is covered.

The route of this channel is the current route of the axis of Rue de la Bougie and Rue Otlet.

1943 Closure of the Brussels slaughterhouse.

1946 Belgium has concludes an agreement with Italy for the supply of immigrant workers mainly from Southern Italy in exchange of carbon.

1964 The Belgian state has signed immigration agreements with Morocco and Turkey 1966 The abattoir, because of hygiene standards, loses its permit of exportation which causes a marked decline of its activities.

1969 The Belgian state has signed immigration agreements with Tunisia, Algeria and Yugoslavia.

70’s The first petrol crisis struck in 1973 and caused a severe recession.

Between 1974 and 1988 half of industrial jobs disappeared and a lot of buildings are left empty.

This coincides with the arrival of refugees from Latin America and Lebanon. In these empty places there is the development of a new economic activity: the import-export of used cars.

2008 Renewed interest from private investors and public authorities of the canal. Many property development projects are emerging, wishing to replace production activities with luxury housing, commercial and recreational activities, a process of gentrification is starting.

2008 Following action defenders of the animal and the entry of new European hygienic standards, the cattle market is stopped.

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14

Hypotesis 1. 2

1.2 Relevant position in Bruxelles Heyvaert district is located between two communities of Anderlecht and Sint-Jans-Molenbeek. In a very close relationship to the city centre of Brussels, just 10 min walk from Brussels South Station, which is one of the leading connection spots in Belgium. Within Brussels it has a very good connection with a metro line. These aspects make this spot quite interesting for further city development, like the Canal Plan for Brussels or the plan for the park of the Ninoofsepoort.

Heyvaert is also the vivid centre of Brussels when it comes to the city of arrival. It is an area where the biggest second-hand car trading in this part of Europe takes place, but it is also a place with one of the biggest markets of Brussels, Abattoir. A lot of small businesses grow due to their relationships with those two big trading enterprises.

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District

PARIS

Ville de Bruxelles

Molenbeek

16 Anderlecht

Saint Gilles Forest

Connections

Hypotesis 1. 2

ANTWERPEN

GENT BRUGGE

LIEGE LEUVEN

17

PARIS

Ville de Bruxelles

Molenbeek

Transport

5

18

3 4

2

1

1 Bruxelles-Midi Station 2 Clemenceau 3 Delacroix 4 Jacques Brel 5 Gare de l'Ouest

7 8

6

3

4

Major elements

Hypotesis 1. 2 2

1

1 Bruxelles-Midi Station 2 Clemenceau 3 Delacroix 4 Jacques Brel 5 Gare de l'Ouest

7 8

6

3

19 1 4

2

1 Abattoir market 2 Erasmus University 3 Institute Des Arts et Metiers 4 Warehouses area 6 Cars trading 8 Ninoofsepoort

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Hypotesis 1. 3

1.3 Productive spot Heyvaert is one of the five biggest productive areas in Brussels. This area has a wide spectrum of production activities. A quarter of all the production activities is within food processing due to the connection with Abattoir. On the other hand we see a large business with metal manufacturing and mechanical businesses. There is a also a visible concentration of industry along the canal due to it’s accesibility and industrial past.

21

Productive city atlas

22

Food processing Paper/cardboard processing and publishing/printing Metal manufacturing and mechanical Networks

Food processing

Other workshops

Paper/cardboard processing and publishing/printing Metal manufacturing and mechanical Networks Other workshops

Green spaces and industries

Hypotesis 1. 3

23

50 000 m2

24

Hypotesis 1. 4

1.4 Social challenges As a part of the Poor Croissant it is a part of the area with very high population density, a high concentration of immigrants and high unemployment.

Historically it can be explained by the position towards the Pettite Senne. The watery grounds were less suitable for residential building and after the construction of the Canal Charleroi-Brussels this was the area where in the 19th century the industry in Brussels was established. As a result this was also the area where the working poor population went to live. Nowadays more than the half of the housing has a surface smaller than 55m2 and 22% have kitchens smaller than 4m2. Just 6% of the housing has a garden, 5% a courtyard and 32% a balcony. 20% of the houses do not provide basic comfort, they lack connection to water, toilets in the apartment and sufficient surface for cooking.

The social structure of the neighbourhood can be characterized by the fact that the female employment activity rate is nearly 20% lower than the Brussels average. The number of birthrates is higher than in other parts and there is a lower number of nursery places per child. This can be linked to stay-at-home moms taking care of their kids as well as the cultural differences where women are not allowed to participate in working life.

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Poor croissant

26

Housing surface

Brussels

Heyvaert

source: De Wijkmonitoring van het Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest

Hypotesis 1. 4

27

Avarage rent and commodity state

28

SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION OF THE ADDITIONAL SPACES Kitchen smaller than 4 m2

22%

Garden

6%

Courtyard

5%

Balcony

32%

HOMES WITH BASIC COMFORT % Brussels

90,8%

Heyvaert 81,89%

source: De Wijkmonitoring van het Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest

Employment activity rate

Hypotesis 1. 4

29

BIRTHRATE 2012 % Sint-Jans-Molenbeek

20,79

Anderlecht 18,63 Brussel 16,76

NUMBER OF NURSERY PLACES PER CHILD 2013 % Sint-Jans-Molenbeek

0,14

Anderlecht 0,17 Brussel 0,32

source: De Wijkmonitoring van het Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest

40-49 30-39 Percentage of nationalities 20-29 10-19 0-9 0

5%

10%

15 %

20%

Percentage of the main 12 nationalities among the foreign population of Cureghem

Nationalité Maroc Italie Portugal Roumanie Pologne Espagne

30

France Turquie Congo Grèce Pakistan Cameroun 0

5%

10%

15 %

20%

25%

30%

Percentage of the main 12 nationalities among the foreign population of Cureghem Source : SPF Statistiques et Informations Économiques — 01/01/2009

source: De Wijkmonitoring van het Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest

Growth of the population (2010-2020)

Hypotesis 1. 4

31

Relative population growth

Absolute population growth

< 1,89 %

30 000

1,89 % to 5,77 % 5,77 % to 9,67 % 9,67 % to 10,24 % > 10,24 %

source: De Wijkmonitoring van het Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest

15 000 3000

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Hypotesis 1. 5

1.5 Already in transition With the second-hand car trading moving to the RORO terminal in the Port of Brussels there will be 9 hectares spaces coming free. The spaces of the abandoned car depots will offer plenty of possibilities for the new projects to be build. However the quality of the soil in these plots is far from perfect.

Nearly all the plots connected to the car trading business are contaminated with different rates of risk. Second-hand car trading is listed as one of the top three most polluting businesses in Brussels, together with chemical treatment of metals and the paint depots. Any new building activities will require the decontamination of soil which is a very demanding activity.

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Morphological and social evolution of the area

1

3

2

1 2

34

3 4 5 6 7

Euclides Culturegem Ecopole Atelier Groot Eiland Community Land Trust project Curo-hall Beeldenstorm

6

7

Hypotesis 1. 5

4

5

35

1

3

2

1 2 3 4 5

Euclides Culturegem Ecopole Atelier Groot Eiland Community Land Trust project

6

7

36

Hypotesis 1. 6

1.6 Vacancy of spaces With the car second-hand car trading going off to the RORO terminal in the Port of Brussels there will be 9 hectares of free spaces coming free.

The spaces of the abandoned car depots will offer plenty of possibilities for the new projects to be build. However the quality of the soil in this plots is far from being perfect. Nearly all the plots connected to the car trading business are contaminated with different rates of risk. Second-hand car trading is listed as one of top three most polluting businesses in Brussels, together with chemical treatment of metals and the paint depots. Any new building activities will require the decontamination of the soil which is a very demanding activity.

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Car trading depots

38

Contamination of the soil

Hypotesis 1. 6

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Strategies 2. 1

2.1

Towards an interactive production of mobility 2.1 Introduction New technologies in mobility will have a big influence on our cities and how they will look like.

Slowly but shortly we see an evolution in the way we use transport, where and how it is produced.

Heyvaert is an area which has a strong relation to the car. The trading in second-hand cars entails many side economies; car-washes, shops selling technical goods, car garages for repair but even on the street cars are getting fixed up quickly. A transition in mobility takes a lot of actors to come together. My aim is not to implement a top-down transition, rather to investigate the existing culture and look for ways to give it a stimulation towards new use and production.

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Morphological and social evolution of the area

SCHOOL = knowledge transfer social encounter

42

FACTORY

= place of work production

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CITY = public space antagonism / spectacle

Strategies 2. 1

2.2 Knowledge as lever to transition I look at knowledge as a key to trigger this transition in new mobility by looking at the interrelation between school - city - factory. In this relations a more beneficial and cross-fertilizing model can be found. The future of the factory lies in the city: local production, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;made in Brusselsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, is becoming more relevant and eligible. Production should be seen as an integral part of the city and the spectacle around it exposed, experienced and enjoyed.

The city is defacto a laboratory where new technologies are tested and adapted to developing needs.

The notion of the school plays an important part in this scheme. There is often no clear relation or co-operation between school and factory. We see challenging numbers of unemployed educated people, not adapted to their working environment. A beneficial interaction is possible: a place for learning while doing, a place for experimentation with output. Knowledge transfer should not be dogmatic, it should be framed in a wider-view of social encounter in relation to the city and factory.

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References

Dynamo metalworkshop, Zurich 44

De Winkelhaak co-workingspace, Antwerp.

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Strategies 2. 1

Testtrack Fiat, Turin 45

FabLab, Leuven.

1 4

3

46

2

Strategies 2. 1

2.3 School In and around Heyvaert we can distinguish several educational institutions.

In the north at the Slachthuislaan we have the Institut des Arts et MĂŠtiers(1). This huge secondary school offers a wide spectrum of technical trainings: electricity, metalworking, mechanics, carrosier, auto-mechanics, specialised bodyworks,... Built in 1932 it positions itself as a bastion in the urban fabric, a stately facade and the people going in and out is the only interface to the city. At the other side of the Heyvaert, hidden behind the Abattoir, there is the Kaaicampus (2) of the VUB. This university campus offers coarses in industrial science, design and technology. Inside the fabric of Heyvaert we have the Institut de la Providence (3), a smaller secondary school located near Parc de la RosĂŠe offering, among other things, technical coarses in electricity and mechancis.

Although these schools maybe give a proper knowledge basis, they lack a sense of reality-check or creative project. The mix of schools and their different approach could make an interesting group of people and know-how.

Imagine: a project where they can actually built a riding vehicule in team..

On the other hand, we have Euclides(4), an agency for entrepeneurs encouraging start-ups and local development.

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48

Abattoir

Ninoofsepoort

Strategies 2. 1

2.3 City The Heyvaert positions itself in-between two public space opperating on a regional level. On the one hand we have the Abattoir with its market and slaughterhouses. The canopy functions as a platform for cultural activities, organised by Cultureghem. On the other hand we have the Ninoofsepoort, an important infrastructural knot for Brussels.

Both places will be developed in the near future opening up the adjacent schools, providing more green space and better facilities. Therefore I will focus on the Heyvaert street, as a backbone and connector for these public spaces.

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50

CARPARK CAR-TRADE

HOUSING + SHOP/GARAGE + TAIL

WAREHOUSE

Strategies 2. 1

2.4 Factory In Heyvaert we find a diverse set of typologies rather chaoticly mixed, but if we look closer we can see some regularities. Around the crossroads of the Heyvaert street a tissue of mansions, with garages on the groundfloor that penetrate deep in the building block, stay almost intact. If we go further away from the crossroad we see bigger plots and buildings as carparks and warehouses nestling in the urban tissue. These carparks have multiple floors accessible by ramp or car elevator. The mix of this different typologies with their own quality form a great potential for new development.

51

Strategies 2. 2

2.2 Visible/invisible 53

What stroke me during the first site visit was the fact that the public space is mainly male oriented around the car trading business. There were hardly any women on the street. The children were playing between the cars.

Morphological and social evolution of the area

54

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Strategies 2. 2

2.1 Housing versus social aspect

As presented in the introduction of the hypothesis the social and housing problems in Heyvaert are affecting one another. Brussels is an Arrival City and there are a lot of new immigrants coming every day, the population grows. The poor districts attract Newcomers with the low rent prices. The inequalities are growing. Not only between the communities but also within the families.

While the men can easily find a job as construction workers, the situation of women is slightly more complicated. The data seems to confirm that.

While the male activity rate in Heyvaert is comparable with the average rate in Brussels, the female employment activity rate is much lower. This can be linked to the economical and cultural aspects, when women stay at home taking care of the kids and men are the only providers of the family.

Many women are often not allowed to actively participate in the society. Instead of forcing them to radically change their cultural behaviours, it is maybe better to introduce different degrees of participation in order to allow them to remain as private as they wish, but still giving them a possibility for growth and engagement.

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Social restaurants in Brussels

56

source: www.sociaalbrussel.irisnet.be

Strategies 2. 2

2.2 Food aspect

Food is a very important aspect in the district of Heyvaert. The biggest food market in Brussels takes place there from Friday till Sunday. When we look at the data concerning the state of the kitchens in the housing we can conclude that a lot of them is not sufficient for the inhabitants as the facilities are poor and the surface is not big enough.

In Anderlecht and Sint-Jans-Molenbeek there are different initiatives trying to activate the communities. Although there are numbers of social centres and restaurants, there is hardly any place where people can cook for themselves. Which is quite strange taking into consideration the fact that there is a big source of resources, the Abattoir market.

There is already an activity offered by Cultureghem, Kookmet, that organizes group cooking under the canopy of Abattoir on Fridays. However it is certainly not enough to satisfy the needs of this neighbourhood when it comes to the issues of privacy and willingness of participating.

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Different degrees of privacy and participation

58

Strategies 2. 2

2.3 Privacy and participation aspect The core of the project lies in the role of the women in everydayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s evolving society and the amount of public attention they can allow themselves to get.

Trying to activate the women into the public scene of the City of Arrival we have to remember that within different cultures there are different degrees of public life that a woman is allowed to enter.

Starting from Hestia, the women are culturally and traditionally connected to the concept of maintaining the house fire and cooking. This is something familiar, something that we can use as a steppingstone into this project. The aim is to get the women integrated within the society and to allow them to get a certain degree of emancipation using the act of cooking. Instead of following the usual path of getting a job into a cooking business (home-education-work) we can use the graphic on the left side as an alternative way for the proces of integrating and participating.

The community kitchens are a good starting point because of the innocence of such communal activities. Other functions, organized around cooking, when women can come, meet and cook, organize workshops can become an alternative to staying at home. With linked child care spaces women donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have to worry about leaving their kids alone and closeness to different social activities may offer people a new possibilites of participating.

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Women cooking

60

Strategies 2. 2

There are different degrees of privacy while cooking. The most private activity is the one happening at home. The cooks are closed from the outside world, they are just sometimes visible through the windows of their homes.

Alice Julier in Eating Together writes that dining together can radically shift peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s perspectives: it reduces peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s perceptions of inequality, and diners tend to view those of different races, genders, and socioeconomic backgrounds as more equal than they would in other social scenarios. Eating together builds relationships between people.

61

Cooking in the community kitchen linked to the home or to the neighbourhood opens the cook more to the outside world. There is interaction with other people, but she remains still a private person and she choses herself the degree of contact. You donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t need to have legal papers to participate in it. Apart from just cooking, community kitchens can be seen as a form an informal organization, working as a meeting place.

Cooking start-ups and workshops are the places where cooks can learn the cooking skills needed for a job. Linking community kitchens with startups can potentially open up new links form many women in their personal growth and emancipation.

Kids

62

Strategies 2. 2

For a lot of women going outside and working is not an option, not only because of their culture or beliefs but also because of the fact that there is nothing they can do with their kids. There are not enough nursery places per kid and the baby-sitters are sometimes too expensive to afford. Linking community kitchens, start-ups and workshops with child care places can allow a lot more of women to participate in the cooking.

There is also an element of a link. One social project can be seen as a trigger for interest in other projects. Going to cook in the community kitchen and taking the kid to the nursery which is close to the social centre may interest the mother to participate in learning French or letting the kid do the art classes.

When the housing state is creating just disadvantages for the locals it is important to invest in collective spaces, so the locals and the Newcomers can get a feeling of belonging to the community. In such a way the different neighbourhood networks get linked together in a form of a Social Hub.

63

From linear of â&#x20AC;&#x153;learning the jobâ&#x20AC;? process...

64

through adding other options for development...

Strategies 2. 2

65

... to creating a network of social facilities, a Social Hub.

Strategies 2. 3

2.3

The Heyvaert food network 2.1 Productive Heyvaert?

Antwerp 67

Nowadays, as in the past, Heyvaert has an importance and an impact in the themes of production, processing and delivery of different goods in the city of Brussels .

The most impactive activity in the neighbourhood is characterized by the car trading and the trasport of vehicles to Antwerp and then to Northern Africa.

68

The current situation is characterize by the massive presence of cars within the urban tissue and inside the blocks. This leads to a difficult relations between the dwellings and their district.

S

S

S

S 69

According to the vision of the city in transition, what is going to happen when the car trading will be moved in an other area? How are going to be used the hectars of the left vacant space?

70

Will the district be occupied by recidences and activities that will not lead the actual inhabitants of the area to continue to live there?

Strategies 2. 3

2.2 Production in transition

Antwerp

FROM 71 (tak TO CIR (re-usin

The disappearence of the car trading in the district open new possibilities to implement a new economical system: more egalitarian for its inhabitant and more sustainable for the environment.

It is possible to quit the traditional mentality of the linear economy

WASTE WASTE NATURAL RESOURCES

TAKE

DISPOSE

MAKE

WASTE

and move to a circular one KE MA

72

RE-PAIRING RE-CICLING

CO N

RN RETU

RE-USING

E M SU

Here the reduction of steps between the production and the consumption helps to reduce the wasting and all the outputs of the chain, if not consumed, enter again in the system to alimentate it.

Strategies 2. 3

2.3 Food in Heyvaert

73

In this vibrant and powerful context an alternative is possible: a food-related project comes alive. The goal? Filling the urban voids, both phisical and both social.

74

Food is, by nature, a basic need that all human beings share.

It is a vital connection that trascends cultural, economic and social boundaries. In this specific district food is already a tool that combine people with different origins together.

Strategies 2. 3

75

Pictures from the friday market of the Abattoir.

Why food? What impact could have the food in a city? Which are its potentiality?

76

The food production has shaped the city since the very beginning of the cities development.

Production, transportation, commerce: in that moment the city is an organism integrated in a system.

During the XIX, the industrial revolution changes completly the situation. The food production activities are turned away from the city. Thanks to this shift the city can sprawl in every direction and in any shape (â&#x20AC;&#x153;eatingâ&#x20AC;? the surrounding fields): the relationship with food is totally alterated.

Before, the food was in the centre of the urban activity as an economical, social and cultural event, instead now it is conceived as an anonymus product. Moreover the frighful datas related to the ecological impact of food production around the world are more impressive if we consider that 1/3 of the food chain output are wasted every year and that 1 billion of people are starving to death and that 1 billion are obese.

This framework of the unsustainability of the system is even more alarming if we consider that in 2050 the double of the people will live inside the city.

Strategies 2. 3

2050 the double of the people will live in the city 6 billions of people to feed 19 milions hectars of rain forest lost each year to create new arable land

20 milions hectars existing arable land degradated 1 calorie of food takes 10 to produce

food in numbers

1,3 billion tons of food wasted 1/3

of the total food production is wasted

180 kg of food per person is wasted in Europe 80% global trading food is controlled by 5 multinational corporation

unsustainable

77

food supply chain

1 billion obesity 1billion malnutrition

LIVEABILITY HEALTH ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION EC

How to approach this alarming framework? source: Food Wastage Footprint: Impacts on Natural Resources (FAO)

FOOD LOSSES 8%

6%

1%

PRODUCTION

POST HARVEST HANDLING,

PROCESSING

78

STORAGE &DISTRIBUTION

WASTE WASTE WASTE WASTE WASTE WASTE WASTE WASTE WASTE WAS

Considering the food as a process instead of as a product.

Strategies 2. 3

FOOD WASTE

TRANSPORTATION

6%

WHOLESALE / RETAIL

5%

CONSUMPTION

STE WASTE WASTE WASTE WASTE WASTE WASTE WASTE WASTE WASTE WASTE

8%

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food retailers

not edible food Abattoir

restaurants and cantines

edible food

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dwellings

organic material

The project energy wants to provide an access to the inhabitants of the area tofood healthy, fair and locally producted food. The high technology knowledge food production combined with the genuinity of a short chain traditional cultivation have the potential to make a cultural, economical and environmental impact in the neighborhood.

This means using food as a tool to translate the actual binomy (production-exportation) of the district to a more local focused one (pro-

Strategies 2. 3

food retailers

15

digestion

energy from biogas Abattoir30 plant nursery

processing area composting

fertilizer water

restaurants and cantines 70 cultivated garden crops

45 food supplier

20

dwe

post harvest handling and storage

retail food shop community cantine shared kitchens cooking workshops organic restaurant cafè

organic material energy food knowledge

duction-consumption).

A self-sufficient community able to give alimentaire, job supply and entrepreneourship to every dweller. This is translate in a food cyclifier where unskilled and skilled professionals work together in a collaborative system to meet the needs of the local community, to produce, to use and re-use resources, to innovate, to experiment, to learn and to observe.

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Health Infrastructure Economic 82

Education Environmental Liveability Social

Goals of the project

Strategies 2. 3

the project provides affordable, nutritious, fresh and healthy food and supports a positive public health agenda. the project contributes to the food infrastructure in term of growing sites, trasportation, community platforms and planning. the project creates job opportunities, support local economic activity and promotes a viable business model. the project teaches food skills and promotes awareness about food, health and the environment. the activities are sustainable and beneficial to the environment in terms of nature, waste, energy, soil, water and air. the project creates interactive spaces, helps to reduce antisocial behaviour and provides urban amenities and edible green space the project creates and strenghthens the communities and social ties, it supports communication and cohesion.

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Test track at Ninoofse-

3.1

Proposal 3.1 Intervention The momentum in development of the Ninoofsepoort is an opportunity to install a test-track where the new locally constructed vehicles can be tested and enjoyed. The park opens up the ‘Institute des Arts & Métiers’, including a skatepark and basketball fields, working as a hinge towards the Heyvaert street where the production and experimentation will take place. The urban fabric of Heyvaert consists of deep building blocks giving the activity on the inside little visibility. The model of the ‘cul-de-sac’, as an extension of the street and public space, aims to opens up these different structures giving them a new interface to the public. This space functions as a place for interaction clustering the different actors. Functionally, it serves as a logistical access alleviating traffic on the Heyvaert street.

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86

Proposals 3. 1

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Case study

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The case study examines a large plot where a composition of different typologies are mixed together typical for Heyvaert. Two long warehouses form a L-shape, one flanked by a longitudinal slab of offices ending in a box-like warehouse at the street. Next to the big structure of the car park a short row of houses prevailed, functioning as housing, car park on the ground floor and office space.

Proposals 3. 1

STUDIO INNOVATION

OFFICE

PRODUCTION

ADMINISTRATION

BODYWORK

Institut Arts & Métiers - carrosserie

FRAME

PULSION

Institut Arts & Métiers - electrics

E-TECH

VUB- engineering

ASSEMBLY

PRODUCTION LINE

RECYCLE/REPAIR

Institut Arts & Métiers - mechanics

SHOP

VITRINE

If we look at the production proces, many of the steps required are related to coarses in the surrounding schools. These activities of production and assembly require larger spaces which we can find on the site. On the other hand there is need for smaller spaces for classes or start-ups.

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1 studioâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s/classrooms 2 devices for exchange 3 big structures

Proposals 3. 1

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The design aims to juxtapose the generous big structures with studio’s or classrooms for a more interactive production environment emerges.

Start-ups, meetings or student-projects engage in a close relation to the productivity happening in the industrial structures, cross-fertilizing each other. These ‘devices for exchange’, the gallery or stoa together with the canopy, form an interface for these different actors. The canopy functions on the level of the public space creating places of friction with the activities happening there. The gallery, as an archetype of knowledge exchange and encounter, clusters the different typologies

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Groundfloorplan

Proposals 3. 1

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First floor plan

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2

3

4

5

Proposals 3. 1

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6

Proposals 3. 3

3.2

Proposal

The aim of this project is to use old post industrial buildings and to open them up to the new public spaces. The front-back issue of the public space can be linked to the privacy and safety issues of the women in the public space.

The existing social infrastructure in this area is not developing itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s full potential. You need a knot to link it all.

And if you want to get through a back door, firstly you need to create it.

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Situating

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Proposals 3. 2

3.1 Situating in Heyvaert

The city block is situated along the Chopsy Chaudron street in Brussels. From the areal point of view it feels divided because of the old Petite Senne trace that is running underground, but from the street point everything feels closed. The site is in the viccinity of Abattoir and the busy market but inside of the block the atmosphere can remain quite calm and private.

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Local functions

100

Proposals 3. 2

3.2 Community centres and other activities

There are different social projects going on in this city block. There is the art foundation Beeldenstorm, which organizes art ateliers, expositions and workshops for kids and adults, and the Curo-Hall with its range of afterschool activities for children and adults, such as French learning courses, lessons how to read and write for illiterates or a welcoming centre for the immigrants in this community. Although the centre is trying to stimulate the building of the Hall as much as possible the bigness of it is quite difficult to handle during everyday activities.

All those facilities are linked together through the back room of the Curo-Hall, but in reality there is little interaction between them.

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Back door - Front door

3.3 Back versus Front 102

In Heyvaert there is the lack of free outside space.

With the second hand car business moving out of the neighbourhood the abandoned car depots can be demolished so the inner centres of the city blocks become free.

In the back of the Curo-Hall there is already a development in the direction of opening up of the city block. There the former waste land is reorganized as a public space La Plaine X70. However it doesn’t seem very inviting at the first glance as it is hardly visible from the street, protected by a fence and it is surrounded by housing and industrial extensions and ‘waiting’ facades.

Proposals 3. 2

103

I believe that this situation can be improved. If there is an approach towards the very public front facade from the main street there should be also a way of organizing the back facade so a building is allowed different degrees of privacy for its users rather than leaving it blank.

The aim of this project is to reorganize the cooking functions around this public yet private space so it can fully use its potential and as a result popularize the social centres around it even more.

Reality

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Proposals 3. 2

Abstract 1.1 Title

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Reality

106

Proposals 3. 2

Abstract 1.1 Title

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Situation now

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Proposals 3. 2

3.4 Implementation

In order to implement this social program the architectural actions should remain simple. Instead of introducing new structures, we are making use of the existing ones, we are bringing up, what was covered by the history.

By demolishing two extensions in the back of the Classicar building we are opening it to the back yard.

The demolishon of the wall dividing the Curo-Hall parking and the company parking at the Rue du Compass is opening this city block for the passants along the covered La Petite Senne trace.

In this way we are creating two sorts of urban spaces, one concentrated on the collective aspect, the second one on the green element.

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Hybrid: community kitchen - workshop - start-up

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Proposals 3. 2

When it comes to cooking, the different levels of privacy needed for the female users are presented in the lineair way.

The community kitchens are connected to the urban place in the centre of the city block. In this way the women are protected from the clatter from the street, they are limiting the way they can be seen.

The more it gets into the street side, the more public it becomes. The workshop is connected to the open space that can work as a restaurant or prolonging of the space for the different workshops or start-ups. There the food can be prepared for the children in the nursery or sold so the makers can receive wage for their input.

However, it is not just the interaction between front door-back door but also the interaction between the two functions inside. The community kitchen users may feel the need to discover and participate in the workshops and start-ups.

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Day care centre

112

Proposals 3. 2

The day care centre can be formally used as a space for the kids of the women participating in the community kitchen or workshop activities. The closeness of it can be an attractor for many women to participate.

This place can also be seen as a link between different activities of Beeldenstorm and Curo-Hall.

On the one hand, the children can participate in art workshops or afterschool activities, on the other hand the parents, and in this case mothers, can become interested in the activities that not necessarily are addressed to the children, such as language learning.

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Park La Petite Senne

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Proposals 3. 2

This activity is a passage between Rue du Compass and Rue Ropsy Chaudron above the old La Petite Senne trace.

It can be seen as an investment in the public space with the historical potential due to the fact that because of the underground river flowing it is impossible to build on it. It can become a nice alternative to the busy Heyvaertstreet.

The activities in the park and the flow of the people can be used as a potential for new contacts, and new interactions with the community place.

However, in this project, I am not investigating this potential further.

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Summary

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Proposals 3. 2

3.5 Summary

The city in transition for me is about the flow of people to the city. Every year there are more and more immigrants coming to Brussels, so the topic surely needs more attention in the thinking about the city.

The transition is about creating even closer networks of connections between social structures. It is not about introducing the new big designs. It is about recycling and reorganizing the existing spatial configuration. The aim is to improve the living conditions of the fragile parts of the society.

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Plot

Concept

Proposals 3. 3

3.3

Proposal 3.1 Location The project concern the conversion of a block located in the middle of the Heyvaert street, between Rue de Gosselies, Rue de Liverpool and Quai De Lâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Industrie.

Its position, between the site the Abattoir market and the porte de Ninove, is strategic for the lever effect that the project wants to achieve.

This urban block has the specific characteristics of the neighbourhood (industrial buildings, cars depots, low quality residences, compact block with no permeability with the street) and it can be used as a prototype for the entire area.

Moreover its position in front of the canal can be used as a strategic and powerful element of connection and visibility.

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120

Functions and building typologies present in the area

Proposals 3. 3

121

RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS

CARS DEPOTS

INDUSTRIAL BUILDINGS

3.2 Project

122

1. Low quality depots building removal

Proposals 3. 3

123

2. Generation of passages and public space

124

RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS

CARS DEPOTS

INDUSTRIAL BUILDINGS

3. Old functions of the transformed building

Proposals 3. 3

PROCESSING AREA

FOOD PRODUCTION

CONSUMPTION

AREA

125

compost

goods

technical path

users

friendly path

4. Ground floor connection and distribution

21

22

23

20 18

19

17 16 15

126

12 24

14 13

9

8

10

7

12

1 5

4

5. New functions

3

11

2

6

Proposals 3. 3

PROCESSING AREA

FOOD PRODUCTION

CONSUMPTION

AREA

1 Food recycle area

5 Offices

14 Friendly terrace

2 Delivery area

6 Food technology school

15 Bio food shop

3 Technical area

7 Experimental lab

16 Storage

4 Storage

8 Plant Nursery (addition)

17 Organic cafè

9 Post Harvest and storage

18 Community cantine

10 High technology food

19 Community kitchen

production

20 Cooking workshop

11 plant nursery

21 Coworking

12 Workshop area

22 Administration

13 Edible gardens

23 Nursery 24 Language school

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B

8cafa4

A 10

11

12

1 Food recycle area 128 2 Delivery area 3 Technical area 4 Storage

13

5 Offices 6 Food technology school 7 Experimental lab 14

8 Plant nursery (addition) 9 Post Harvest and storage

21

10 High technology food production 11 Post Harvest and storage 12 Workshop area

19

13 Edible gardens 14 Experimental gardens 15 Friendly terrace 16 Technical path

18

17 Friendly covered path 18 Storage and backstage 19 Bio food shop 20 Organic cafè 21 Nursery 22 Language school 23 Public entrance

Floor plan

Bâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;

Proposals 3. 3

5

Aâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;

1 2

6 8

4

7

3

9

17

16

129

13

13

15

20

23

22

N

0

5

10 m

130

Food recycle area

Section A-Aâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;_1:500 scale

Offices

Technical school Entran

nce

Proposals 3. 3

131

High technology food production

132

High technology food production

Section B-Bâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;_1:500 scale

Experimental area

Proposals 3. 3

133

Organic cafè Covered promenade

Edible gardens

Bio food shop

Community kitchens Cantine

Administration Coworking space

134

Perspective axonometry of the project

Proposals 3. 3

135