Urban design and spatial planning portfolio wout collart (eng)

Portfolio Wout Collart 2008-2014

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Introduction

Urban Design and Spatial Planning Portfolio Wout Collart [January 2016] Aready in my architectural studies I was fascinated by large and complex programs, which led to a second complementary master, that gave me the possibility to further explore ‘the design of large quantities’ and research the urban tissue on a large scale. After completing my master in Architecture, I graduated cum laude in June 2014 from my second master Urban Design and Spatial Planning at the KU Leuven.

Throughout my academic years I have received a broad, founded and inspiring look at the field of architecture and urbanism, which I want to further explore. You can expect an enthusiastic and motivated staff member of me.

In my portfolio you can find my curriculum vitae, a selection of projects based on the chronology of my studies, in which my vision and style is expressed, and a recommendation letter.

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Curriculum Vitae PERSONAL DATA: Surname and name Address Mobile phone E-mail Date of birth Birtplace EDUCATION: 2012-2014 2007-2012

WORKSHOPS AND EXPERIENCE: 2016 jan-may 2016 2015 2015 (ongoing) 2014 2014 2012 LANGUAGE SKILLS: Dutch English French IT: Autocad Adobe Photoshop Adobe Indesign Google SKetchup Word/Excel PERSONAL INTERESTS: Architecture Furniture design

Collart Wout Leopold Decouxlaan 45, 3012 Leuven +32 [0] 473/81.69.04 wout.collart@gmail.com 25 juli 1989 Leuven, Belgium

Urbanism and Spatial Planning [LUCA] in Gent Architecture [LUCA] in Brussel.

Specialisation: Advanced Architectural Design [AAD]

International Design Workshop, KUL, Waste of the city/the city of waste, Houthalen-Helchteren.

Working experience as an urban planner at t’Jonck-Nilis, Leuven.

International Design Workshop, KUL, Le(u)vensader, te Leuven.

Architectural Internship at a33, Leuven.

The Big Reset on Neighbourhood Design, Amsterdam [IP].

Masterclass, Atelier Groen Lint, Oostende.

Building a Hyperbolic Dome. The dome stood at various events. +++ [native language] ++ + +++ ++ ++ +++ + Urbanism Cultural trips

Literature Motors

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5 Projects

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The five projects that I would like to present are the result of a wide range of design assignments realized in my study of architecture and urbanism. The first presented project, my master thesis of architecture, indicates my interest for the exploration of the larger scale. Within the second master the projects balanced at the interface between the domains of architecture and urbanism. Although the scale of the projects grew bigger, I always explored the architectural implications of large-scale planning. In closing, I would like to present you my master thesis of Urbanism and Spatial Planning, which I graduated with honors in 2014.

Each project is briefly represented by using a short text and imagery. Only the key points of the design are imparted. If you want further information, I’ll be happy to explain you personally.

[1] Museum on the Canal: The art closet.

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[2] Making Almere, from a prearranged city, to a participatory city.

[3] Pendrecht: The neighbourhood unit reinterpret.

[4] Workshop Euralille: the experience of Bigness.

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[5] Reprogramming monsters and angels.

Bordeaux:

About

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MUSEUM ON THE CANAL

The Art Closet

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ASSIGNMENT: DESIGN A MUSEUM [A CULTUREAND MEETING PLACE] ALONG THE CANAL OF BRUSSELS YEAR OF EDUCATION: 2MA.AR TUTOR: EUGEEN LIEBAUT LOCATION OF THE DESIGN: CANAL BRUSSELS, INTERSECTION KOOLMIJNKAAI AND SAINCTELETTE SQUARE DURATION STUDIO: SEMESTER

The Molenbeek side of the canal was deliberately chosen for the implementation of the new museum site. The location in Molenbeek -which houses the largest population density in Flanders- contains primarily ruins and nonsites. The new museum would add a nice living environment and would bring an enormous cultural upgrade. The main museum square would significantly expand the public space of the surrounding neighbourhood.

Furthermore it is one of the few places along the canal where the museum can be excavated until the water level. The sober museum square would be an open place in the densely built fabric. The silhouettes of the two museum towers would be new landmarks in the skyline of Brussels, beacons to a less popular part of town. The museum as appealing attraction would put Molenbeek back on the map of Brussels.

The idea to design a museum as an art closet is mostly based on the curiosity that such furniture spontaneously generates for its content. The museum design wants to provoke that curiosity in a contemporary manner to address the widest possible audience. The two towers and the underground chamber that connects the two together, accommodate the various showrooms of the museum.

The structure of the museum towers follow as closely as possible the structure of a cabinet. The museum towers consist of a concrete vertical support structure that underpins the ponderous carrying surfaces.

The strong spans offer great flexibility in the floor layout of the museum. In the steel structure that provides the stability of the tower, the stairs, elevator shafts, blinds, ventilation and other technical requirements are accommodated.

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MAKING ALMERE

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From a Prearranged City, to a Participatory City

ASSIGNMENT: ANALYSE AND TRANSFORM ALMERE YEAR OF EDUCATION: 1MA.SRP TUTORS: KAREL WUYTACK, JAN SCHREURS LOCATION OF THE DESIGN: ALMERE, THE NETHERLANDS DURATION STUDIO: SEMESTER

After World War II Amsterdam was subjected to a strong growth. To incorporate this exponential growth, the city invested in various polycentric centers, such as Almere.

Since the birth of Almere, this new town kept on growing. In the ninetees, the plan of OMA deformed the growing city of Almere into a monocentric center, as a sister city positioned next to Amsterdam. Nowadays there is a further planned growth from 190.000 to 350.000 inhabitants.

Our assignment was to revise the train station and the surrounding area. The highrise around the station functions as a gravity point in a field of houses. It indicates the city center. Our plan focuses on the identity of the site, the blended program on a limited surface, the human scale in relationship to its buidlings and the breaking of physical boundaries, created by the train- and bus station.

By relocating the bus traffic on the large proportioned central lane, towards the ring around Almere, a fairly large area in the city center opened up, which gave us the opportunity to weave a new form of social programs, greenery and mobility, as a linear element, through the city. The center lane becomes a strong carrier and a catalyst for further densification of the city center.

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PENDRECHT

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The Neighbourhood Unit Reinterpret

ASSIGNMENT: ANALYZE AND TRANSFORM PENDRECHT, SO IT BECOMES A SUSTAINABLE, QUALITATIVE DISTRICT. IN ADDITION, OUTLINE THE NEIGHBOURHOOD IN ITS LARGER ROTTERDAM CONTEXT YEAR OF EDUCATION: 2MA.SRP TUTORS: KAREL WUYTACK, STEVEN GEEREARTS LOCATION OF THE DESIGN: PENDRECHT, ROTTERDAM DURATION STUDIO: SEMESTER

Pendrecht is -from a cultural and historical point of view- a milestone in the intellectual legacy on the development of the neighbourhood unit in large scale urban expansion. The challenge of this project lies in transforming the inherent qualities of the in 1953 abstract planned city of Lotte Stam-Beese -currently labeled as ‘focuswijk’- and adapt it to the current needs, expectations and real experience of Pendrecht. In order to make this possible, we zoom in on the area at different scales.

On the regional scale Pendrecht clearly reads as an autonomous entity designed with its specific spatial morphology. By examine the entire district, framed in the model of the shard-city, we plead to maintain a clearly legible entity in the landscape. From the model of the web-city, the project focusses on adding a new program of mainly shops and services around Square 1953, to strengthen the local economy without losing the social, open nature of Lotte Stam-Beese’s design.

The public space is studied by analyzing one of the various neighbourhoods situated in Pendrecht.

Within this stamp district with its repetitive nature and its diagrammatic structure the spatial experience is very static. The public space is no more than a chain of unused lawns that are linked together through play streets and water features.

The aim is making this experience of the public space more dynamic, by adding a sequence of parallel strips with a diverse program and vegetation. Moving through the neighbourhood is no longer driven by the most efficient connection but takes a journey of discovery across varied landscapes.

The relationship between public space and the residential buildings is addressed in the final scale. The footprint of the refurbishment is mainly preserved. The interaction between the buildings and the open space will thus remain fully defined by the variety of stamps, each with their identical morphological structure. Here it is investigated how small volumetric additions these stamps particularize.

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Rotterdam Centraal

Zuidplein

Pendrecht

Carnisselande

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Diffuse landscape

Interconnection network

Shard (patch) structure

Network - Patchwork

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Pendrecht: the design of Lotte-Stam Beese

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A A E C A B

A

D B

B

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Functions in the district centre

Richting Zuidplein en Rotterdam Centrum

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1/2000

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The public space in one neighbourhood

1/1000

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1/2000

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1/8000

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1/2000

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The (housing) units in one stamp

1/500

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1/500

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From a stamp into a stroke structure.

The strips are a new dynamic input in the public space. By adding planting on a consistent distinctly differentiation and various constructions that block the passages and transparency of the neighbourhood, a slow meandering circulation is created, that makes the walk through the neighbourhood as a journey through a variation of lanscapes. The perception of Pendrecht changes drastically. The new composition makes the public space accessible for spacial claims of the residents.

The unique exterior space in every stamp allows the inhabitants to identify himself with his living unit. The center of the social scene of each stamp becomes a place with fewer flows of fast traffic and is more sheltered and for that matter more private than before.

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WORKSHOP EURALILLE

The experience of Bigness

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ASSIGNMENT: STUDIE REGARDING EURALILLE, WITH A FINAL RESULT BROUGHT TOGETHER IN A VIDEO FRAGMENT, AVAILABLE ON HTTP://VIMEO.COM/92725630 YEAR OF EDUCATION: 2MA.SRP TUTORS: KAREL WUYTACK, CATHERINE MENGÉ LOCATION OF THE DESIGN: EURALILLE, LILLE, FRANCE DURATION WORKSHOP: 6 DAYS

In 1989 the master plan Euralille I of OMA was realized (un non-lieux sur un nonlieu). In 1995 Euralille II followed. In this complementary plan the city council of Lille took a radically different approach, in which the greater metropolitan conditions were discarded (un lieu sur un non-lieu).

Thereafter anno 2013 Euralille III came on the drawing board, in which the Bigness of the non-lieux project was reread without fully grasp the vigorousness of the project.

We want to invert the evolution of Bigness into bigness. With our proposal, three strategies for sublime moments of illusion, we want to remain indebted to the capital B in Bigness and and build further on the existing planning of Euralille I. Program, vista and flux form the foundation of our analysis. The three design tools (adding metropolitan program, creating more flow and fully embrace the vista) are simultaneously applied.

To break the emptiness that currently exists in the public domain, two types of programs are added: temporary and permanent.

The temporary programs create a new dynamic in the near future. In the long term perspective, the metropolitan strip is further densified. The largely proportioned infrastructure can easily incorporate this densification. In addition to this, the flow from the center of Lille is increased by two new axes that cross through several introverted spaces, that get more involved with the whole. Adding a third, publicly accessible tower -the counterpart of the Espace Piranesien- marks the end of the two axes and creates intrinsically new vistas.

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REPROGRAMMING BORDEAUX

About Monsters and Angels

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ASSIGNMENT: MASTERTHESIS URBANISM AND SPATIAL PLANNING. YEAR OF EDUCATION: 2MA.SRP TUTORS: KAREL WUYTACK, ROB RAGOEN LOCATION OF THE DESIGN: SAINT-JEAN BELCIER, BORDEAUX, FRANCE. DURATION STUDIO: SEMESTER

This final work, the thesis of my master in urbanism and spatial planning, contains a research to archive design strategies for XL-architecture in a changing culture of planning. It is a design based work with a theoretical foundation, in which the works ‘Changing Cultures of Planning’ and ‘Bigness or the Problem of Large’ play a significant role.

The starting point of the thesis, for which the hypothesis of the book Changing Cultures of Planning is taken and the chapter: ‘Bordeaux 50.000 Homes Along Public Transport Routes’ is analyzed, serves as an introduction to the site in Bordeaux, SaintJean Belcier. To establish specific insight on ‘The Problem of Large’ a theoretical framework is formed on the basis of four perspectives; A BIGNESS COMPLEX©, UN DYNAMIQUE D’ENFER©, UN NONLIEU©, and A MONSTER©. These points are used as a concept in the design research.

The final design is reflected on the railway station and its environment. This site plays an important role in various urban plans. Several spatial claims occur from existing planning, generating a dynamique d’enfer. The design, infact three different approaches to the strategy, deals with the coming together of various spatial claims, the convergence of flux, the specific context, the spatial abnormalities and of course the immense program [over 2.4million sqm].

The role of large-scale architecture in a new planning culture hasn’t finished yet.

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Londen

Antwerpen Brussel Lille

Parijs

Bordeaux

Toulouse Marseille

Bilbao

Barcelona

Euratlantique 2017 Madrid

Hogesnelheidslijn

A BIGNESS COMPLEX© No millefeuille...

No diagram...

...¥€$ Bigness 42

UN DYNAMIQUE D’ENFER©

...¥€$ dérive

UN NON-LIEU©

A MONSTER© No form of program...

No UNESCO...

2014

2020

2050

20...

...¥€$ non-lieu

...¥€$ form of flux 43

Model 1 Flux and the MAT-building: ‘The Strategy of the Void’.

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Model 2 Program blocks and interconnections: ‘gravitational strategies and the positional equivalence’.

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Model 3 Flux = Program, the Hyperbuilding: ‘montage strategies’.

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Letter of recommendation

Letter of recommendation for Wouter Collart Ghent, 10-10-2014

To whom it may concern, I hereby wish to recommend Wouter Collart for an internship at your office. Wouter decides after a master of architecture to develop more academic skills by inscribing him in the master of Urban Design & Spatial Planning, a degree he obtained cum laude.

Wouter Collart has different skills I could observe. His academic papers for my theory courses (Urban history and Morphology) had a highly personal and precise approach to the subject. He is very precise in his drawings, consequently develops a project and is creative in finding solutions.

In the design studio of the second Master year of Urban Design & Spatial Planning Wouter developed an intriguing and consistent transformation strategy for Pendrecht. The members of the external international jury and people of the spatial development department ware unanimous that the content and the presentation were excellent.

During the workshop I organized in Liège and especially in Lille, I could observe Wouter his skills as a team player. He has a strong opinion and the ability to motivate other team members. The thoughts on bigness Bigness he developed in Lille - were, after a study trip to Bordeaux, further elaborated in his Master thesis ‘Reprogramming Bordeaux’. As promoter it was a pleasure to read his interview with the philosopher Bart Verschaffel and to observe how he presented to Floris Alkemade his provocative but consistent design, or should I say designs (in fact he made three proposals).

Wouter Collart was one of the most dedicated of our students and after graduating he was selected for the Summerclass ‘The Big Reset on Neighbourhood Design’ organized by the Academy of Amsterdam with 7 European partners and the Masterclass ‘Atelier Groen Lint’ with Georges Decombres, Sébastien Marot and Elissa Rosenberg.

He can operate in a comprehensive holistic approach, linking architecture and urban planning as integral disciplines. I hope your office will give him the opportunity to further develop his skills in the fields of architecture and urbanism.

Please feel free to call (0032495307358) or write (karel.wuytack@kuleuven.be) if I can be helpful.

Yours sincerely, Karel Wuytack, KU Leuven Faculty of Architecture department of Urban Design & Spatial Planning OPO coordinator Design Studio 1 and 3 Docent Urban History & Morphology Tel: 0032495307358 Mail: karel.wuytack@kuleuven.be 51

Urban Design and Spatial PLanning Portfolio [January 2016] Wout Collart Tel: 0032473816904 Mail: wout.collart@gmail.com 52