Runner-Up – Forging the Fallow

Forging the Fallow

AUTHOR(S) — Michaël Stas (BE), Cecilia Furlan (IT), Benjamin Vanbrabant (BE), Sven Mertens (BE), Architects, urbanists

CHARLEROI (BE) — RUNNER-UP

CONTACT — FALLOW 21 rue du Poinçon, 1000 Bruxelles (BE) +32 478221857 / info@fallow.eu / www.fallow.eu

TEAM POINT OF VIEW — Charleroi’s territory is widely known for its industrial mining history and the outdated image of le Pays Noir. Through time, this territory has been constantly claimed and reclaimed, spawning the idea of exploitation, occupation and regeneration. Different waves of transformation resulted into the surreal landscape in which industrial land, urban tissue and green-blue elements are constantly mixed. The condition of Porte Ouest as fallow land, as a land in rest on the verge of a new cycle of transformations, is our starting point to re-imagine the site. The project aims to explore a circular design approach towards new productive futures. Therefore, three main actions are proposed: re-connecting the site, re-generating the land and recirculating productivity.

JURY POINT OF VIEW — The project answers the questions raised via an open process: economies and activities, links between the canal and the river, logical and ecological circuits, multiple connections in particular to the Chaussée de Mons. The project develops synergies and different scales incorporating a broader territory. The advantage of this open approach is that it can integrate projects related to water or recycling and re-utilisation of the industrial heritage.