Seraing came, like many villages and towns in this region, to grow with the introduction of the mining industry. Factories were built and needed workers. These workers lived in houses in the close vicinity of the factories. It created a durable relationship in the urban fabric: the factories needed the workers, i.e. the houses, and the workers needed the factories. Today the factories and workshops, and thus the employment, are leaving or have already left. This not only leaves an empty space in the urban tissue, but also an empty space in the economic life of the citizens of Seraing. The central question of this project is therefore: How can we re-introduce this durable relationship between these to types of zones? In order to answer this question the urban design consists of two main layers. The first layer embeds the design within the site; the second creates the functional relationships
© Giorgia Borrelli . Published on January 18, 2014.
The main part of the first layer is the green park. It is located all around the red boundary. The concept of the park refers to the typical belgian house. They have, infact, a close curtain overlooking the street and a wide open garden in the backyard. the park has the same logic. It is close along the street forming a filter plant to reduce the impact of noise and pollution and it has a big green heart inside. the vegetation is divided into three diffetent cathegories according to the position in wich they are. On the northen part of the red boundary there is an area for PHYTOREMEDIATION. The type of PHYTOREMEDIATION we have chosen is the Medium Rotation Forest; it’s a five years circle in wich vegetation grows up and than the cut wood is used to produce energy and the soil can be occupated by other crops or buildings. This strategy allows to change the use of the land and admitts different developments phases inside the same piece of land. Near the river’s banks there is an area of agroenergy and two watlands that has also the use of basins of millwork just in case of an overflowing of the river that crosses the project area. The remainder part of the green park is dedicated to flowery meadow and bicycle paths so people can use it as they want.
© Giorgia Borrelli . Published on January 18, 2014.
The project location is nowadays at first sight characterized by its difference in heights, its wooded appearance and mostly by its isolated character. On the one hand its natural environment – including a lot of trees – makes it almost inaccessible and, on the other hand, the wall on the side of the Rue de l’Hôpital blocks any relationship with the project location. But there is more than meets the eye! Today there are two tunnelled rivers flowing in the site area. At the same time there are many mineshafts that have been filled spread all over the site. The concept is to bring back the two rivers and use them as leading elements for not only the project location but also the main master plan. The areas on the North and South side of the rivers will be built. In between, a central park connects the project location with the green boulevard. The filled mining shafts, each surrounded by a 25-meter non-building radius, intersect the built areas. They are used to open up the project to the surrounding neighbourhoods. Instead of leaving these circles as open voids, the project introduces << totems >>. These are lightweight art interventions, which serve as both visual reference points and more intimate public spaces. Depending on the use of cars they can also be used as temporary parking. Preferably local artists do the design with materials from the old factories.
© Giorgia Borrelli . Published on January 18, 2014.
Instead of looking for contrasts between the new project and its surroundings, the project proposes an architecture that is derived from the streets of Seraing and its region. The buildings use a line typology and are positioned next to a pedestrian ‘street’. Every ‘line’ element consists of different types of standardized houses and apartments, which together form a whole, while being at the same time very different. In this way one can get the same variation in façades and roofs, all together with the same cost reduction of making a standard apartment building. They are orientated northwest – southeast to assure that every house has an outside space towards the southwest. To let every house and every part of the house receive the sunshine, all the rooms are opened to the south- west façade while the functional, less-inhabited spaces (stairs, bathrooms,…) are located in the north-east part. The different types of housing are all based on the superposition of boxes of 6×6 x 3 meters. On the edges of every building zone is a continuing plinth that holds generic spaces. These are multifunctional, common spaces. It is important to know thatthis plinth is useable for all inhabitants in Seraing – so not only for the new living area -, which they can rent for their own use. If there are a lot of families they will benefit from a kindergarten, while a gym or a swimming pool is suited for people who like sports.
© Giorgia Borrelli . Published on January 18, 2014.
All the buildings are constructed with wood as main material. This uses less energy to manufacture and is less polluting in the building and eventually the demolishing process. The main structure is built up out of cross laminated timber. This is a prefab wood material and therefore quicker, thus cheaper, to build while its resistance to fire is still good. The isolation consists of wood fibre. The mining shafts have been filled, but the underground structures are still present. The proposal is to investigate if they can be used as an underground thermal energy storage. If possible, they help in a very efficient mannner the heating and cooling of all the buildings in the new site.
© Giorgia Borrelli . Published on January 18, 2014.
Factories are for a long time not any more the main reason of existence of Seraing, but the urban tissue is still made for the ‘man who works at the factory’ with its mono-variety housing. The design proposal shows an urban design that offers housing for multiple sorts of households and multifunctional spaces free to rent to the inhabitants. The proposal does not try to impose a design language that stands apart from the city of Seraing, but instead integrates and mingles with the existing tissue and history. By bringing back the two closed down rivers and integrating the old mining shafts as visual and energetic references, the project settles itself and gives visual leads for the development of the entire site. The housing form with its distinct roof shapes is a direct reference to the existing houses in the centre of Seraing. All in all, the design proposal gives the existing houses and its inhabitants a lot of common spaces and a qualitative park, while the existing tissue gives the design proposal its distinctive shape and services. This just could be a durable relationship, wouldn’t you say?
© Giorgia Borrelli . Published on January 18, 2014.
© Giorgia Borrelli . Published on January 18, 2014.
© Giorgia Borrelli . Published on January 18, 2014.
© Giorgia Borrelli . Published on January 18, 2014.