Noémie Laval

2021-2022

ARCHITECTURE MASTER DEGREE - LA CAMBRE-HORTA, ULB

OPTIONS DESIGN, SUSTAINABILITY, STUDIO « LOGEMENT INNOVANT » RESEARCH ESSAY - THESIS

2020-2021

« VERS UNE FRAGMENTATION DE L’ILOT. » ERASMUS BELGICA - UANTWERPEN FACULTEIT ONTWERPWETENSCHAPPEN, UANTWERPEN, 2000 ANTWERP

2016-2020

EDUCATION 2009-2016

ARCHITECTURE BACHELOR DEGREE - LA CAMBRE-HORTA, ULB RESEARCH PAPER « POST-MODERNISM DEBATE ON PRESERVATION.» ENGLISH IMMERSION SCHOLARSHIP COLLEGE SAINTE-VÉRONIQUE, 4000 LIÈGE

INTERNSHIP : ATMOS OFFICE DESIGN ASSISTANCE AT ATMOS OFFICE, 6900 MARCHE-EN-FAMENNE WORKSHOP URBAN TRAIL : SIP.21 - CHARLEROI

« SENTIERS ET TERRES COMMUNES » MAPPING AND DOCUMENTING. FABLAB TRAINING : FABZERO, ULB

DESIGN PROCESS, 3D PRINTING AND LASERCUTTER TRAINING. STUDENT JOBS ADMINISTRATION, HORECA, HOSPITALITY.

ANTWERP CHEF’S GUESTHOUSE 01

Bredastraat 77, 2000 Antwerp 3rd year Bachelor p.06

BRUSSELS SHAPED BY ITS DIVERSITY 02

Brussels small ring 1st year Master p.16

RE-THINKING COLLECTIVE HOUSING 03

Porte de Hal district, 1060 Saint-Gilles 1rst year Master p.22

WUNDERKAMMER RESEARCH 04

Rockefeller center, NYC 2nd year Master p.28

HEYVAERT RECONVERSION 05

Chaussée de Mons, 1070 Anderlecht 2nd year Master p.34

DIGITAL DESIGNS 06

FABLab, ULB 2nd year Master p.46

ARCHIVES 07

Graphic research on site(s), drawings by hand and internship p.48

project implantation

ANTWERP CHEF’S GUESTHOUSE

Bredastraat 77, 2000 Antwerp 3rd year Bachelor Alain Simon & Eve Deprez

Working, Living, Sharing.

Since the 1960s, Antwerp has developed a 3-lane automobile traffic network called the Ring. While this has allowed the city to develop its industries, it has also caused the isolation of the city : areas are now disconnected from each other, cars have been injected into all aspects of the city, parks and green spaces have nearly disappeared due to the lack of space caused by this asphalt belt strangling the city. Following the master plan published in 2017, this large-scale program initially aims to complete the ring with three main goals ; A vibrant residential city with a new housing model ; A smart network city, with a priority for soft mobilities and strategic hubs created by well-situated, multi-modal and accessible sites ; Re-imagining of the ring itself as a resilient lands cape, connecting the left bank and the right bank.

The North zone of Antwerp is an historical connection between Eilandje and Merksem. The Bredastraat links Antwerp and its periphery for decades by permitting the supply of agriculture goods from rural areas to the city center ; its intersection with the Viaduct-dam brings out a double-orientated plot in the extensive perspective of the new park Spoor Noord. The plot results in two shapes colliding on one another, thus defining the turning point of the street. The recent rehabilitation of an ancient coffee warehouse into a residential complex opens the cen ter of the block to the public space.

The main idea of the project was to strengthen this historical connec tion in a contemporary mindset ; a green activity nourished by farmers placed in a booming district. In order to improve the opening of the block, a crossing plan is imagined on the groundfloor ; A conscious res taurant is placed on the first corner and meets the local market (Boeren & Buren) on the other side of the plot. Floors are developed as a laye ring of 4 volumes in order to follow the double-orientated plot’s shape and to emphasize the Bredastraat’s corner.

PROJECT LOCATION

bredastraat facade

isometric view

view from the urban block’s interior

restaurant’s kitchen

bredastraat entrance

BRUSSELS SHAPED BY ITS DIVERSITY

Brussels small ring 1st year Master, individual projet Jean-Marc Simon, Pierre Blondel, Irene Lund

reinterpreting the urban block on Brussels small ring for 2050 ; Botanique district.

Spatial readability of each Brussel’s district by considering a new interpretation of urban blocks.

The city of Brussels has endured three main transformations since its crea tion ; it was first developed on a medieval city gate between the 14th and 18th century with few sections of these fortifications still present to day, such as la Porte de Hal. It was then transformed by the construction of large boulevards in the 19th century under Leopold II bringing the « promenade bourgeoise » in the city. Today, the city is known as a radial concentric city plan defined by its tunnels resulting from its 1950s most recent transformation. The new masterplan aims to consider Brussels in its future urbanization considering the potential sustainability and density issues the city will be facing by 2050. In order to improve the quality of life in a city where the population is forever increasing. The central question was considering the possibility of a fourth transformation : could the small ring be a new opportunity for residential projects?

Brussels is defined by its diversity resulting in heterogeneous culture and density. The new masterplan purpose was to create a wandering between public and semi-public spaces and to propose a new mobility devoted to pedestrians and cyclists by keeping its present continuity. The idea is to fragment the small ring in various sceneries along a 8km pathway. Thus, four types of urban block were developed in order to incorporate the pro ject within its immediate context.

1. Classic urban block : An isolated area in a city, usually containing several buildings. Its typology creates unity in the urban space and is surrounded by streets.

2. The urban block is flipped inside out and is equally dis tributed from its interior and exterior areas.

3. The urban block becomes a new connexion between public spaces rather than an urban boundary.

the central urban block

the extended urban block

the fragmented urban block

RE-THINKING COLLECTIVE HOUSING

Brussels small ring 1st year Master

Jean-Marc Simon, Pierre Blondel, Irene Lund view from the coursive.

Project selected for the Architecture faculty exhibition (2020-2021).

Spatial readability of each Brussel’s district by considering a new interpretation of urban blocks.

Brussels has the specificity of being defined by a strong diversity within its various districts. Following the previous project masterplan defined by the fragmentation of the pentagon into different interconnected and delimited public spaces (p28), the project attempts to strengthen the spatial readability of the city by creating new typo logies of blocks. The stretching of the intra-muros and extra-muros city mass leaves room for a new soft mobility that crisscrosses between different gradations of public and semi-public spaces.

The masterplan allows the creation of a new type of housing where the vis-à-vis is found at the head of the building. Thus the project raises the question of intimacy in the face of public space as well as the meeting between the existing blocks and the new interventions. Various means of intimacy are implemented, in particular the search for natural light, the shed facade and the residential duplex : Collective hou sings are resized so as to find a fairer ratio adapted to the uses of the inhabitant; the day-spaces become « reception rooms » more opened onto the passageway and the night-spaces are now allday rooms where privacy is enhanced. The passageway serves a great mix of housing ranging from studios to 5-bedrooms family housing. The «coursive» is both a circulation and a collective space by its morphology and constitutes a major filter between public sphere and private housing.

Re-shaping the rooms of collective housing : switching from day-night spaces to open and private spheres.

section aa’ section bb’

WUNDERKAMMER RESEARCH

High Rise - UAntwerpen 2nd year Master

Sven

Verbruggen, Bart Hollanders

How fascinations nourished the Wunderkammer research : « Layers in the city » and « Out of time ».

Learning from the analysis of historical high-rise buildings was the main aspect of the High Rise design studio at UAntwerpen faculty. In the context of the Rockefeller center : Which key features are composing the architecture of the RCA? Following the boom period, New York City buyers market forced the development of better quality space. Natural air and light was an important value. As a result, setbacks design were meant to shape the plans. As the level goes higher, the size of the floor plans are diminishing because of the amount of elevator shifts decrea sing and leaving more brighten spaces.

Drawing and modeling was a tool in the understanding of the project and brought personnal fascinations about corners, terraces, entrances and endings : How to evoke the idea of perception of time in architec ture? Are all architecture styles already known from today? Can a new style emerge in the following years? Is there still space for incorporating Art in Architecture as the Rockefeller center did?

The sense of purpose hidden behind the first proposal at the time and the contrasting result brought me to question the sense of making a « wunderkammer » as it was the task given by the studio. How to bring nature as a layer of the city? While this question was already brought by the roofgardens, cities are now becoming more and more complex considering their links to sustainability. Urban connections can aim to be created not just as functional infrastructure but also as interspaces called « antichambre » which are found in the gardens. The idea of controlling nature is of course a debate : Bringing nature as a layer in the city means a new way of connecting humans and architecture. In this case, nature is not passed through but observed which leave a choice of stopping by or directing spaces.

HEYVAERT RECONVERSION 05

D’Ietereen, Anderlecht 2nd year Master Jean-Marc Simon, Irene Lund

A new scheme between industrial and residential activities.

As the Heyvaert block recently underwent transformations following the relocation of D’ieteren activity, the project attempts to question the potentialities of integra ting housing inside the block. The PAD imagined by Citytools is re-considered so as to define the spaces generated by the permeability of the block. The creation of a central core dedicated to micro-industry makes it possible to fragment the site into several spaces of different natures. Heyvaert street being defined by greatest flows linked to Anderlecht slaughterhouses, the alignment strengthen the crossing from the Canal and reorganizes the traffic and the path dedicated to soft mobility.

The project attempts to respond to the various challenges raised by this new mixity inside of the block. How to superimpose housing on micro-industry and avoid the following constraints? Collective housings are now distributed by roofs shaped as « relief slabs » in order to generate both private spaces and natural light devices within the groundfloor activity. In addition, a new experimental housing is ima gined on the existing warehouse structure in order to create a patio housing-ty pology. The new Heyvaert project tries to create a synergy between industrial and residential activities by providing a new productive room within the housing.

Project selected for the Architecture faculty award exhibi tion (2021-2022).

Re-thinkink the permeability of the block

view from the rue Heyvaert‘s block entrance

DIGITAL DESIGNS

FabLab ULB 1st year Master Victor Lévy

NASTRO Léonardi &

LA LAMPE

Prusa open-source 3D printer and Lasersaur cutter.

Design option has teached me how to manage 3D modeling and digital tools. The exercise lasted one semester and aimed to consider design products in their whole process, starting from analysing a piece chosen at the Brussels Design Museum.

Fascinated by the Nastro chair from Cesare Leonardi, I imagined a lamp based on the simplest caracteristics of the object ; one base and one lamp-shade. Using paper models to find its proper curves and considering the object’s pactical function, I imagined a folding system entirely composed of polypropylene. To learn more about my journey within the FabLab, I invite you to scan the following QR code and read my gitlab :

LAVAL Noémie

LA LAMPE

RUBAN En travaillant sur le beaucoup la pensée un moyen d’avancer chaque idée qui émergeait, utilisé par Léonardi une manière de travailler permis de prendre ruban » trouve sa fois déposée aux cotés L’idée était de travailler courbe et homogène. blanche de forme semble outre leurs est aussi très simple, lui donner une identité un abat-jour, deux Un pied rigidifié par abat-jour souple grâce pylène transparent une courbure plus chair ». Le polypropylene sera finalement plongée lampe ruban prend mogène qui laisse

ARCHIVES

graphic research and drawing by hand

a chef’s guesthouse, Antwerp

rehabilitation center, Basel

Calatrava train station, Liege

tour et taxi, Molenbeek

jean jacobs place, Brussels

Porte de Hal, Brussels small ring

one A5 per day

micromegalab research on Antwerp

This portfolio illustrates a selection of drawings and researches I’ve been working on during my study at the faculty of Architecture (ULB, La Cambre-Horta) I consider my work as a constant evolution of ideas, my creativity is fed by observations and emotions. Similar to a large canva, this book is an opportunity for me to pause and focus on my journey ; Rather it is by increasing the quality of collective housing in an urban context or by playing with light to enhance the beauty of a moment, my purpose is to offer an easy understanding of spaces and composition. By considering a deep connexion between archi tecture and its direct environment, I aspire to built contextual archi tecture based on a given landscape and nourishing environment. My ambitions as an intern is to incorporate the process of building construction on site, to confront my theorical knowledge with the architectural practice and to acquire the work of architect’s daily life.