One Day Walk: HIDEAWAYS

ONE DAY WALK: HIDEAWAYS Master dissertation project by Oksana Savchuk

ONE DAY WALK: HIDEAWAYS Master dissertation project by Oksana Savchuk Academic promoter: Gisèle Gantois Academic year: 2015/2016 Date of publication: June 13, 2016 International Master of Science in Architecture KU Leuven, Faculty of Architecture, Campus Sint-Lucas Ghent

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank Teis De Greve for constant support, critical feedback and final proofreading.

I thank my academic promoter, Gisèle Gantois for guiding me to explore other ways of researching and designing, for supporting me in times of doubt and for sharing valuable references during our always inspiring discussions.

My thanks also goes to the whole studio and my friends who were always there to give feedback and support.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 1 INTRODUCTION 8

10

14 16 18 20 22 24 26

Behind the hill, under the grass The rooftop of absence Down with the water

90 106 118

THE LOGBOOK OF WALKS

Day 1. Walking into fields and my memories.

Day 2. Just being emotional and honest.

Day 3.

Day 4. Recognizing and being present.

21st of March. Talking to people, trying to be less biased.

19th of April. Monday, in a bar.

7th of May. Summerish Saturday.

INTERPRETING HISTORY 28

32 BOTANIZING PEEPHOLE TO THE EVERYDAY LIFE OF BRUSSEGEM 38

42 A MOMENT FLYING OVER FLANDERS 48

50 LEXICON FRAGMENTATION — COMPLICATIONS FOR OPEN SPACE 56

58 FRAGMENTATION — DISTORTED PERCEPTION

60 REFERENCE POINTS MESH — MEANING AND IMPORTANCE 62

64 THE SPEED OF LANDSCAPE CHAPELS 66

68 (NOT) KNOWING THE CODES CHAPELS AS HIDEAWAYS 72

74 EXPLORATIONS INTERVENTIONS 88

SUMMARY 132 ARCHITECTURAL REFERENCES 134 REFERENCES 136

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“Stop this day and night with me and you shall possess the origin of all poems.

You shall possess the good of the earth and sun, (there are millions of suns left,) You shall no longer take things at second or third hand, nor look through the eyes of the dead, nor feed on the spectres in books.

You shall not look through my eyes either, nor take things from me, You shall listen to all sides and filter them from your self. ” Excerpt From: Whitman, Walt. “Song of Myself.”

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Brabantse Kouters (Dutch) – the highlands in a swampy region.

Brabant / Braecbant (Dutch) – swampy region Braec / Broek / Moeras (Dutch) – Swamp Bant / streek (Dutch) – region Kouter (Dutch, from the Latin word: ‘Cultura’) – ‘a wide open acre situated on the upland’.

- Gantois (2015b)

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INTRODUCTION I position this project on the margins of architecture, without the direct aim to find a problem to which building could be a solution.

It gives me the opportunity to explore the region aiming to synthesise that knowledge into a design.

WALKING Due to the particular walking research method, I have explored and got fascinated by mostly not the villages themselves, but rather by their surroundings. The walks to, from, between and around the villages.

THE AREA The project focuses on the Brabantse Kouters region, situated north of Brussels, in particular, the villages along the ancient roman road from Asse to Elewijt (Gantois, 2015b). The proximity of these small towns and villages to the capital has set the task to explore such setting of a rurban environment within its cultural landscape.

AUTOETHNOGRAPHY “Autoethnography is an approach to research and writing that seeks to describe and systematically analyze personal experience in order to understand cultural experience [...] Thus, as a method, autoethnography is both process and product” (Ellis, Adams, Bochner, 2011).

I turn all my maps upside down because the relation to Brussels is more important than the north arrow. The city is on the horizon, thus it is at the top, and the place where I stand is closer to me, thus, on the bottom.

This is a very personal project, which rather starts from emotion and impression, than from fact and reason. Firstly, I was acting, then expressing my impressions, and consequently analysing them. In this way, I was bringing my unconscious findings on the surface and correlating them within the wider theoretical discourse.

MESH Walking became my method and the object of study at the same time. Without predefining my route, I was wandering around, unconsciously choosing smaller roads and trails. In this way, I have discovered overlapping rambles (touristic walking routes) and the mesh of everyday life of local dwellers.

SPEED Walking imposed a certain tempo on the research; a speed which is slow enough to connect to the environment and to dissolve in it.

DISTORTED PERCEPTION When you walk you can see only at the eye level. How far you can see is defined by the obstacles on your way. What you see is defined by the context.

IN BETWEEN PRIVATE & PUBLIC CODES Passing by chapels and fields made me think of the relationship between owners and users.

Some places (built or unbuilt) have an owner, but are visually, mentally or even physically accessible by others.

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THE LOGBOOK OF WALKS We spent five November days living in the Grimbergen abbey and walking around the Brabantse Kouters region. Depending on the weather, plans and mood we walked together or alone, a couple of hours or a whole day. We were not allowed to use maps or take photos, only to make sketches and notes (Gantois, 2015a).

Later on, I made some more walks during March, April, and May.

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Sketching while walking has slowed me down.

The speed of getting through the site had a great impact on its perception. Standing and sitting in places made me more attentive to details and made me read signs more carefully. Moreover, it gave a reason for strangers to stop by for a chat.

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On maps and photos I would never see the things I saw while walking; those little things unseen and unfelt unless you are there. I didn’t know what to expect or what to look for. I Just made a couple of steps and trails took me over leading ahead. I was not in control, they were. And those trails led me not only to places, but to people and to their stories.

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Day 1. Walking into fields and my memories.

We arrived in the abbey, had a talk and lunch.

In the afternoon we decided to walk together in search of an ancient roman road on a hill, which was supposed to be our red thread through the region. Soon enough our walking exercise transformed into a quest of wayfinding. We tried to orient by the sun, relying on our memories of the map we saw a week before and knowing Brussels is in the south.

Heading west through Grimbergen we found another thread to follow — a water stream.

It was a small stream along the road in an industrial zone mixed with occasional housing.

We then crossed the water and followed a path between bushes and trees. Finally, after passing another housing area, we saw a gap between houses from which you could see wide endless fields. A dissolving cobblestone path was going up. We assumed that it was it, the roman road, so our way-finding mode was switched off and wandering had started.

It was a long road in the middle of agriculture land, we didn’t have any choice but to go straight.

There were only plants and distant horizons to observe. Some of those plants I remembered from my childhood summer breaks at my grandparents’ house on the edge of town.

There were plants with little flowers I was feeding to the chickens, other ones which I used to fix the wounds I got from climbing trees. I wondered what children fix their wounds with nowadays? Do they even still climb trees? Or nettle, so dangerous to touch.

I remembered my grandma was boiling it for tea and I was scared of that tea as well.

My relationship with plants, fostered by my grandparents, I could even practise back in the city during the school year. Behind our block, there was a piece of grass, where we used to have picnics with our empty plastic teapots and leaves on our plates. But occasionally we also had some real snacks — wild strawberries. They were connecting my city and village life, my picnics behind the block and my walks with grandfather in the forest.

Walking straight, following the path between the fields, we heard a highway in front of us. At the end of the fields, there was an out of place housing development. It looked completely alien there, squeezed between endless field and a noisy highway. But at the same time, it looked somehow cosy with big common playgrounds. Closer to the highway there were more typical private houses with huge fences, which did not contribute much to the noise reduction though. We crossed the highway by the bridge and walked forever along the fenced out park straight into the twilight.

In search of a good cup of tea we turned to the left on a tiny street and found a small cute square with an old church and cafes. It was Meise. We then decided return on the same route (can’t recall why exactly) and headed along the highway again. In the darkness, the car dominance felt even more pronounced.

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Day 2. Just being emotional and honest.

I got dropped off on the road near the sign “Brussegem”. My plan, I think, was to go to Rossem, to the north. On one side there was a park, on the other houses and farms. Loud and fast cars were squeezing me into the grass, as there was no sidewalk. After half an hour the only change was more houses and fewer farms. Then I saw a turn between a chapel and a timber yard. As my previous walk was getting boring, I took that turn to the right (where the north was supposed to be, I thought). Houses were dissolving in the fields. Signs on people’s houses were advertising potatoes. Occasionally people on bikes passed by. I saw a bench near a rickety old house, next to a fence eaten by a gorgeous pink rose bush. I took a seat! Then I noticed a laminated sheet of paper on the fence telling a story of the building which was not there anymore... A bike tourist stopped and asked where to find the “plantentuin” — a plant garden I supposed. I showed back from where I came, at least I saw a big park there behind the fence, so it must be there I thought. I felt like a local, hoping I showed him the right direction. Did he think I am a local, just because I was chilling on a bench, or was he just desperately lost in the middle of the fields?

I continued. After typical agricultural fields, I entered a typical road with typical houses.

There were some closed cocktail bar and a map for touristic walks. An attractive promise to go somewhere recreational won over the typical row houses; smaller streets, smaller houses and an open field behind a corner.

It was an enjoyable tiny path between green shrubs and a field of yellow flowers. There was a huge leafless tree full of singing birds, I was

approaching closer. All of the sudden, they at once took off and flew away, still singing, still looking magical. I was not sure if I scared them. Probably not, as in a couple of seconds and a big circle around the tree, they returned to their initial position.

I faced a busy road. I could continue straight into the fields (and I saw a tiny chapel in front) or to the left, still trying to head to the north. I decided to go left, there were some houses, so I thought I could just ask someone where to go… Some minutes later I learnt that I was going to Merchtem, and got instruction how to reach Ossel instead. I followed a long and lonely road, with occasional cars passing by. I was wondering why on earth people wanted to live in such a place (or territory); there was nothing for a couple of kilometres but huge fences.

Then a hunger caught me and instead of going somewhere I became a hunter. I went all way to the centre of Merchtem to find a supermarket and a salad. Luckily, there was a bench on a corner, which could host my lunch time, looking so alien on this street. It was a corner plot which used to be a bar long time ago, as I learnt from the memorial board. After a big fire, they left the plot unbuilt with a sculpture and a bench, luckily for my lunch happiness.

Going back to Brussegem I took an even more boring road, a bit busier with traffic than previous ones (it was the Brusselsesteenweg).

There were some big shops and high trees along the road.

Of course, I couldn’t miss the chance to go to a smaller street as soon as I saw one. It was a

tiny housing area, just one street, but I saw a little road going away to the trees, and I took it. I was going up and I knew it’s a good sign.

And there they were, fields of agriculture, fields after fields, some modern castles and couple of industrial greenhouses, a black male sheep with yellow eyes, and a tip of a church on the horizon.

After some time I reached Brussegem, by the same busy and empty road.

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Day 3.

I tried to go to Verbrandebrug. I didn’t know where to go, just a direction. Intuition brought me to a touristic walking road; a path framed by trees and water on both sides. It leads me to a house with straw roofing. It indeed looked like a tourist route, as there were elderly couples in hiking outfits passing by. I crossed a little bridge and went to the fields.

Rain caught me there. I realised that even though I’m in the field, actually I’m trapped on the tiny road, with no shelter nearby.

I can’t recall now if before or after (which actually doesn’t matter) there was something like a forest-park. There was a sign saying this is a forest, also listing all the plants with tiny pictures of them and a sign that you can’t collect flowers there. I wasn’t sure, but the pictogram looked like it did not only forbid collecting flowers, but also gathering berries and fruits (which too were listed on the board). It made me so sad. It felt like museum forest, so fake, not real. My real forest is a place where you go to explore, find and enjoy the gifts of nature…

There were some very old buildings which looked like tiny castles. Maybe they used to be summer residences of richer people from Brussels, or maybe some local earls lived there. There was no hint for me. The only thing I knew for sure was that I passed a house where kids lived, who were playing on the road. There was a recent chalk drawing on the paving, of a hopscotch game. I didn’t know why, but it felt extremely important at that moment.

I felt a bit lost. So I asked every stranger (the

few I met) for directions. There were three of them, to be precise. First, there was a girl leaving the house, entering her car and waving bye to her dad (I assume). When I approached she already had left, the man was still standing on the porch gazing at the car disappearing in the distance. I tried to ask him the way, but he answered in Spanish or Italian that he doesn’t speak anything else. I’ve tried simply to say the name of the village I was searching for, but still he kept on repeating the previous phrase. It was quite awkward.

I wanted to ask which destiny brought him to live there, between the forest and a field with sheep, next to the village, which name he didn’t recognise… The next stranger was a lady on a cargo bike filled with something.

She simply told me to keep on going straight, then turn right and left again to the bridge and right again. I pretended I got it, but right afterwards I tried to write it down fast to have at least some chance of finding it.

Finally, I got stuck in the cornfields, which brought back such bright images from my childhood, that they took over the walk. I felt like going back.

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Day 4. Recognizing and being present.

The week was almost over, and I still didn’t see the biggest part of the roman track on the hill (which was our first target). My plan was to follow some parallel road from the first walk, reach Meise, walk around it to find the roman road to Brussegem and maybe try my luck in finding Rossem again.

I had crossed a couple of spots from the first walk, but instead of following the roman track in the fields, I took a lower road with trees and houses. For some reason, there was a helicopter flying really low and I had a feeling it was following me. There I found some old water mills, a tiny chapel, and the same housing areas pushed against the highway. After passing by the square where we had a tea on the fist day, I took a road down the hill walking along the same fence of an endless huge park (maybe that was the plantentuin). After a cemetery, there was the edge of the town, and a tiny road climbing up the hill. It felt like the road was pushed deeply into the ground with time, and trees grew all around and over it, creating the feeling of a tunnel. It leads directly to the crossing of five roads. I choose the highest one and found myself marching roman steps, being on top, seeing a cabbage valley tenderly flowing down, sometimes a bit crumpled by trees, all the way down to the skyline of Brussels. There were some biking and jogging people, and a herd of sheep enjoying this place as well. I had my lunch there, observing, and being present in that landscape. I continued marching, trying to imagine how they did it back in Roman days...

When the route was going down, I turned sharply to the north. To my surprise, I had

come across the chapel from my second day of walking, the one next to the timber yard.

As I already took the picturesque path in the fields behind, I decided to continue on the busier one. At some point, a huge truck loaded with sawdust was passing by. In combination with the wind, this truck made it snow with tiny pieces of wood.

I reached a chapel, previously ignored because of hunger. I stopped by to write down what was written on it. Probably because I looked so curious next to it, an old man passing by on a bicycle stopped and tried to tell me the story of that chapel. Something about a sick daughter from a rich family. When I kindly asked him to repeat it again, he probably heard my suspicious accent and started speaking French! Which is understandable in this region, but it didn’t help me at all to follow the story.

In some minutes I turned to watch the chapel again, but the image was completely different. Someone was urinating against its wall. I walked away with a faster pace.

Quite some time later, after I passed by some horse range and the houses started getting bigger, I bumped into another chapel in the middle of a roundabout. Right above the cross, there was a surveillance camera, it looked quite sarcastic. They were watching me. I took a small cobblestone path to the village (it was Rossem). The village road had no sidewalks, so took the bike lane, which annoyed a man on a bicycle who screamed at me. I saw a tip of the church and went there.

I sat on a bench by a little picnic table in the

front of the church to drink some tea and wait to be picked up from there. Cows were grazing next to the church, bells were ringing, I was tired and cold.

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21st of March. Talking to people, trying to be less biased.

I started my journey from Brussels-North.

The first bus which was leaving to the area was going to Meise and took around half an hour. I was trying to take a closer look on the people who were taking the bus too, trying to predict who will leave on the same stop with me. The bus got really crowded at a bus stop “Magnolialaan”, it looked like there was some stadium. I was advised to talk more to people, to engage in conversations in order to get a better understanding of the area (G Gantois 2016, personal communication, 20 March).

It is easy to start a conversation on a bus by simply asking: “I’m sorry, do you know how long does it take to Meise?” or “Do you know which bus stop in Meise should I take if I want to reach the centre?”. In response, I got something like: “But what do you mean by the centre? The church? Meise is very small.”

Luckily, I started a conversation with a very talkative guy. He was commuting daily from Brussels to his job in a night shop in Meise (one stop after the central one), but originally he was from Madagascar.

I went to drink some tea in the bar at the church square. It wasn’t an easy place to start a conversation, everybody was busy with their own drinks, food, and company, so I talked to the waiter. To my surprise, I learnt that he commutes daily from Antwerp to work in Meise because he knew the boss. He also visited the Plantentuin two times. As the bar is right in the front of the church I asked him if he saw a lot of activity there. He told only on Sundays, and sometimes for weddings…

I went down along the green border of the

Plantentuin and saw a lady sweeping a porch.

She was very friendly and had been living in Meise for four years. She was originally from Brugge, but she had moved here to be closer to her children and grandchildren after her husband passed away. At that moment she was sweeping the porch and watching the bus stop at which her grandchildren were supposed to arrive. We had a little chat about the area. She told that the place is very calm but still full of social life. There is a cultural centre which she visits, and there are many other grandparents she knows because of her grandchildren. In addition, she also became friends with the neighbour on the left, who also appeared to come from Brugge. The area is very child-friendly, there is a play garden for children with a donkey and a pig.

Later on, I walked up the roman track. It was calm, with just a few people walking their dogs and a couple of joggers. I also saw a huge bumblebee.

Down, at the Ossel bus stop, I asked a young guy a couple of question about the area. He appeared to live there only for one year with his mother. As he studied in Brussels, he took the bus almost every day. Conveniently his apartment was right in the front of the bus stop. He told he didn’t know people in the area, as he was mostly in Brussels. But he knew the area somewhat, went biking on the roman track and knew there was a castle in the village.

When I asked him if he liked it there, he took a moment to think. He only told that when he would graduate he would look for a job and a place to live in Brussels.

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19th of April. Monday, in a bar.

It took me around one hour to get to Ossel from Wouluwe-Saint-Lambert in Brussels.

Metro and then bus. I got out of the bus two stops before Ossel (next to the allotments of Hamme) to approach the village by foot.

On my right side, I saw a little chapel, along the road. It looked abandoned and trashed (crumbs of bricks, a plastic bottle) and nature had eaten up the stairs. It was locked with a big chain. Inside through the grating, I saw unused candles were still there waiting for someone to light them up and a sculpture which didn’t look like Jesus, but more like a traveller in a coat, with a hat with, a wide brim and a dog behind him. Spider webs were everywhere.

As I continued, I passed by some big water installation, which probably was supposed to pump the storm waters away. Right, across I saw a tiny street with a couple of houses and went there. There was a man walking towards me. It felt like in each yard there was a dog, which was barking as loud as possible.

The man stopped to cuddle one of the dogs behind the gate. I approached him: — I’m sorry, can I ask you something?

— Yes, - he answered unconvincingly.

— I’m doing a research… [briefly explaining what am I doing] Do you like living here and why?

— Yes, because it is a little bit outside, outside the city, closer to nature, you know. But, on the other hand, there is this busy road (steenweg).

While telling this he was already walking away, as if he was in hurry leaving somewhere.

I continued on this little road. On the other side, there was a barrier and a sign “private”.

Obviously, cars couldn’t pass there, but was I even allowed on that tiny street then?

The street lead directly to the church (as all other four “streets” of the village). I saw four people on bicycles heading to a bar, so I went there too.

It was around 3 p.m. on a Monday, and there were quite some people for that time. One man was drinking a beer alone on the bar, a second man was doing the same but talking to the bartender. Two couples (who came on bikes) were drinking coffee and sometimes joined the conversation of the bartender and the man. A little bit behind, there was a table with men in workmen’s clothes. Some men joined the bar later. I felt alien. I ordered a tea.

I was listening to the talks. I learnt that there will be a bike marathon from Wednesday until Thursday in Brussegem, and a man announced that it was a good cover for another occasion to drink.

I finished my tea and was waiting for a good moment to talk to the bartender when she was not too busy with orders and conversations.

— I’m sorry, can I ask you something…

I briefly introduced myself and after mentioning the word heritage she called another bartender, who was an elderly lady, supposedly knowing it all better.

She told me that the church is used every Sunday and has around 70–80 parishioners.

Then she told that the church of Brussegem was on sale because it was too big for the village. The man on the bar started joking that

they are going to install a trampoline in that church. Another man also liked the joke, so it was repeated every five minutes during my stay there.

She told that the bar was the main meeting point and even newcomers dropped by sometimes. She also told that they have a festival two times a year, but the younger bartender started arguing that it was like that before, but that nowadays it was just once a year… They also told that the population of the village was quite diverse; there are people talking not only Dutch and French, but also Portuguese and maybe some other languages. Anyway, the older bartender really wanted to show me the church from the inside, so she went to the priest’s house, but unfortunately he wasn’t there. She simply wrote me his phone number on a piece of paper.

I never used it, as I have learned that direct verbal interaction is not really my thing.

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7th of May. Summerish Saturday.

It was a really warm day, one of the first days when one needs to apply sunscreen. I went to the site expecting to see it swarming with people and indeed it was. Sunbathers, walkers, joggers, bikers and even farmers (on Saturday) were out there.

I wanted to repeat the walk from Meise to Ossel once again. By know, I knew where I was going and I knew the places where I could stop to rest. As it appeared the beautiful ruins of the watermill I had in my memory, where not really that much of ruins, but rather a narrow place between a farmer’s house (previously a watermill building) and a pasture land for cows. I tried to get closer to the waterfall.

I was threading my way through nettle (not without a few burns) and the precipice of the stream. The sound of water was overwhelming, especially on such a warm day. Cows were watching me, I was watching them, and on the other side, I hoped nobody was watching me through the windows of the farmer’s house. I wasn’t even sure if I was allowed to be there or if I was trespassing. We continued.

Bikers were passing by every five minutes. The sound of a soccer game was heard from afar.

We reached the ridiculous allotments next to the highway. The funniest house had a high fence lined with green artificial grass and barbed wire leaning inwards, like in prisons, not to mention a couple of security cameras. I could see very well the inner yard of that and other houses from the bridge over the highway. That funny house had a perfectly mowed lawn and nothing else. I just left wondering what was happening there. On the bridge, my boyfriend told me a scary story: some decade

ago a couple of girls waved to the cars on a highway bridge and got kidnapped by some famous paedophile-murderer. That funny house-prison didn’t seem so funny anymore.

The bridge over the highway is a weird place.

The noise of cars is constantly loud and you can feel it with your whole body. It is a quite unpleasant environment although sort of meditating.

On the main square of Meise, I saw real tourists, in khaki clothes, with little backpacks and big cameras hanging on their necks. They looked like they were ready for some serious hiking.

Walking up the hill we didn’t meet anyone, but a couple of cars. On the top, on the Roman track, on contrary, it was literally swarming with people. Joggers, bikers, tractors, scouts having a race competition of self-made cars.

We sat on the bench with the view, wondering how many couples were holding hands there. Families of bikers were passing by. A shouting voice, amplified by a microphone, was announcing something. I really wanted a pancake, as it was the only association I had with scout events.

Between shrubs and fields, I saw a pack of bunnies. Interesting, do they like Brussel’s sprouts? A little bit further there was a pasture with extremely muscular cows, they could hardly walk and were just laying on the grass.

At the spot with the last glimpse on Brussels,

between two grooves, before the hill goes down, I realised that I was ignoring the other side of the road every time I passed. It was an agricultural land slightly going upwards, so I couldn’t see what’s behind it. My friend tried to lift the camera on a tripod with stretched arms to see what’s there. There was a tiny strip of the horizon on the other side. I rushed between two fields, on what I thought was a passage for tractors. I stopped where I felt it was the highest point of the hill and the busy roman track was not visible anymore! I outstretched my arms to give a signal to my friend who was trying to catch me on a photo.

I still could see the top of Atomium, but on the other side, I had a complete view on the distant horizons with huge cranes and small settlements.

I sat in the grass and enjoyed the weather. I felt very tiny in that endless open horizon, I felt as a part of that field. The noises and voices were muted by the noise of grass waving in the wind.

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INTERPRETING HISTORY

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TRANSIT

AGRICULTURAL EXPLORATIONS

CLOSE TO...

Once upon a time, when the ancient Romans were ruling in western Europe, there was an important road Asse-Elewijt. Somewhere around its’ middle, there was a diverticulum (secondary road) to the north, to Rumst and Baasrode aan de Schelde. The crossing of these two roads was a potential place to meet travelers and trade with them.

Fertile soil offered a possibility for agricultural explorations, attracting some to settle down and established the first farmsteads.

Meanwhile, on the slopes around the Zenne river, there were a couple of big villas resting on an even more ancient route.

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TRANSIT TRADE

THE DOMINANCE OF RELIGION

ECONOMIC BOOM till XVI

Since the rise of the fort of Brussels a road via Wemmel to Osesella, Brucegheem and Merchtem played an important role for the villages’ relations with Brussels’ aristocracy.

Until the 14th century, Merchtem played a major role as a border town between the County of Flanders and Brabant.

Bishops and abbots were playing a key role in the development of Ossel and its environment. The local Abbeys also owned land and mills.

Since about 1200 there were several flour water-mills located on the Molenbeek, and since 1400’s there were also windmills located on the tops of the hills.

With the advent of the canal Brussel-Willebroek in 1561, the trade routes lost their previous meaning, which had a drastic negative effect on the local economy.

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AGRICULTURE

“ALLOTMENTIZATION”

LEISURE

Agriculture and horticulture are the main business activities in the area.

Agriculture was the main focus until the 1960’s when cars and highways emerged.

With faster and faster connection to Brussels and its ring road, the area became interesting for the housing market.

Open space (ensured by agricultural activities) attracts recreation seeking people from the area and Brussels for walking, jogging, biking etc.

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“To practice space is thus to repeat the joyful and silent experience of childhood”

- de Certeau (1984)

BOTANIZING As I walked between the villages and on the hills, I couldn’t resist collecting a little herbarium. Even though I didn’t aim to document or research the local flora, I couldn’t resist picking up leaves, flowers, and pieces which were on the way. They made me recall something distant and pleasant, something from my childhood.

Some of the plants I haven’t seen already for a while. There is one which we used in childhood to stop knees from bleeding after climbing a tree of falling down from a bicycle.

There another one, with tiny flowers, I recall my grandmother told me to collect and feed to chickens. The one with yellow flowers I have never seen up close before, but huge bright yellow fields were present all around me there and in my memories of other landscapes. Some plants, look quite normal if you consider the leaf itself, but are quite wild and tropical when they grow in huge bushes. Most of them I couldn’t really identify. With trees was just a bit easier: oak, maple, linden…

Sometimes, they were not really plants, but merely traces of activities. White-red stripe, for instance, could have been used to mark a treasure finding quest for local scouts. And the truck carrying a whole mountain in front of me was snowing with coarse sawdust, which smelled so good. The hair of corn cobs reminded me how I used to play with it as a doll with luxury hair and later of the smell of freshly boiled corn…

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PEEPHOLE TO THE EVERYDAY LIFE OF BRUSSEGEM Instagram is a photo- and video-sharing social network service. Its users have the choice to publicly share their photos with a tag of a specific location or even add them to a “photo-map”. Instagram’s cropped, filtered, blurred and shared photos can be described as “grassroots documentation efforts that present spontaneous and highly personal sentiments” in this way creating a great contrast to mute documentations like Google maps etc. (Hochman & Manovich, 2013).

I have chosen this medium to expand my own experience of the place and to take a look at it via the eyes of other people.

I have printed out all the pictures which were publicly available with the tag or location mark “Brussegem” and the ones made in the radius of 5 km around the geographical coordinates of the village.

The picture on the right represents an associative map of Brussegem tiled from those photos.

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I have tried to simulate a couple of Instagram streams for different kind of dwellers: farmers, daily commuting people with children, young people growing up there, and recreation seeking people. All of the associations looked overly recreational, reminding a day off in summer. This is probably because of the nature of shared photos on Instagram — personal representations of life.

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A MOMENT How to reconstruct a fascinating moment?

Like a moment in an open landscape, with a blue sky and a bit of sun. A beautiful valley that rolls down and opens up the distant horizons. Cheerful song of birds and rustling trees above me. A road which permeates through this space as an arrow. All the complexity of foregrounds and backgrounds, when I can’t even focus on one view, I turn my head all around, I see it all, I feel it all around me.

Reconstructing this experience in a physical artifact aims to tell a story of this complexity.

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FLYING OVER FLANDERS Whichever way you turn your eyes you see a pretty much similar pattern: a net of cities and towns interwoven by along road developments, which frame a patchwork of fields and industries. Flemish territory looks like this today owing to it’s the central location and important commercial function already in a Middle Ages when towns and villages were founded on an average one day walking distance of 25 km from each other (Gantois, 2015b).

Such condition creates a unique, neither rural nor urban, pattern of settlements.

It is challenging to understand, because of a lack of definitions. According to the United nations, the urban population of Belgium is actually 98% (EC, 2014). However, there is a distinction between densities of urban areas: (1) cities — as densely populated and (2) towns & suburbs — as intermediate density (EC, 2014). Belgium has the most pronounced intermediate density condition of Europe with as much as 73% of the population living in such areas. (As a comparison: Netherlands and Germany – 48%, United Kingdom – 40% or France – 27%) (EC, 2014).

Thus, it means that such a type of urban development is rather unfamiliar for foreigners, like me.

Which definition could explicitly describe such a type of settlement? Every country has (or lacks) its own definitions and concepts of city-town-village, which only sometimes match (United Nations Statistics Division, 2005).

While the concept of intermediate density area gives an estimation of 300-1 500 inhabitants per km2, the concept rurban*, describes more intuitively what does it feel like. *Rurban — “an area which blends rural and urban characteristics, in addition, it might mean both urbanisation of countryside or the rural influence on a city” (www.oxforddictionaries.com, 2016);

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LEXICON The lexicon was a tool to summarise my understanding and interpretation of the region.

The initial idea was inspired by the MLM001 lexicon (LOW, 2015). It consisted of neologisms and complementary drawings describing or interpreting concepts for the future development of the neighbourhood. In addition, during my reading of Wanderlust by Rebecca Solnit (2001) I created a list of words describing the process of walking, its’ reasons and types, which resembled my experience in the area. The combination of these two sources of inspiration has lead to a lexicon defining those words by my personal experience of walking in the area.

Two definitions for each word present the duality of facts (objective or perceived) and personal experience of the site (completely subjective, however, influenced by objective condition). Sometimes the border is blurred to amplify the complexity of the division between objective and subjective.

During the project I was making changes in it.

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FRAGMENTATION — COMPLICATIONS FOR OPEN SPACE The historically dense network of villages, multiplied with a growth of cities and villages themselves, has lead to the continuous fragmentation of open space. On the one hand, the wilderness disappears in such a system, as there is no place to hide from anthropogenic influences. On the other hand, what is left from wilderness – a cultivated nature – gets closer to the human settlements, and thus can enter the everyday lives of its inhabitants.

In addition, suburbanisation (or “allotmentization”) of such a context has brought a concept of “new rural, daily commuting” dwellers, who saw the benefit of living in this area (Leinfelder & Vanempten, 2008, p.3).

As new rural residents have cut out their allotments from the open space because of its distinctive character and proximity to the city, wouldn’t they like to preserve the qualities for which they have moved in?

URBAN VS RURAL OPEN SPACE

The urban vision of the development of ‘peripheral’ open landscape foresees its intensive use by diverse groups of people for recreation.

This is to be achieved by ensuring an actively used border by public buildings (shopping malls, hospitals, sports facilities etc.) and by ensuring accessibility with public transport (Mabilde and Loeckx, 2016).

Open space near the city is seen differently by different actors. While an urban perspective sees the nearby open space as an urban fringe to be planned as a part of the urban tissue (mostly by converting it into park alike areas), a more rural approach is questioning it by posing, for example, the needs of modern farmers. Both are criticised by their opposing views: developing open space as recreation areas can lead to disneyfication (for example the Vlooybergtoren project) while preserving the farmland is seen as “artificially and to certain extend hopelessly conserved” (Leinfelder, & Vanempten, 2008, p.2).

As nowadays people have more free time, what once was a peasant cultivated landscape is already filled with leisure activities of both dwellers and visitors. The open space isn’t empty, it is already occupied by both human (farming, leisure) and non-human (appropriation by animals) activities. Thus, is there

even a need to transform it into an urban alike park, swarming with people? Wouldn’t something be lost then? Isn’t the densification of open space actually what should be avoided in order to remain its distinctive qualities?

Similarly to the Lefebvre’s (1996) question: Are the rights to nature and to the countryside not destroying themselves?

What then could be the rurban vision, which would blend both ambitions, without neglecting or abusing either side?

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FRAGMENTATION — DISTORTED PERCEPTION How does a walker perceive the fragmentation?

You don’t have much more reference points, than those you actually can see. How far you can see is defined by obstructions. What you can see differs. A wall of facades, sometimes maybe with a tiny gap in between, where you can glimpse into the gardens, sometimes a high fence. Rows of trees, which let you see thru, but eventually make you get lost in the trees on the background. Open fields, bigger or smaller, more or less defined by rows of trees on the horizon or infinite, hiding the horizon from the viewer.

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REFERENCE POINTS Mostly, if not always, they are on the intersection of roads, where direction should be chosen. Sometimes they are on a square with a cozy cafe, from where you can glimpse on their tower to check the time. Sometimes you find them at the end of a journey accompanied by a bench where you can rest. Once it is just a tip of a roof, which guides you from across.

One way on another, those chapels and churches got stuck in my memory, and not any other objects. Why?

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MESH — ­ MEANING AND IMPORTANCE There is a crucial difference between the mesh and the network as a way to either inhabit or to occupy the environment. “The lines of meshwork […] are the trails along which the life is lived”, while the lines of a network are point-to-point connectors (Ingold, 2006, p.47). The mesh is created by the tissue of trails, which intertwine and curve, which have a rich texture of experiences and places to stop for rest. The network, on the other hand, is typically made out of straight routes with intersections at specific, loaded points (Ingold, 2006). The experience of a network and a mesh is radically different; it can be compared with a stroll along a river and the idle state of being transported by a car on a highway. Tim Ingold (2006, p.47) argues that the mesh of a lived space is the way to not just occupy, but to truly inhabit the environments: “[it] is the most fundamental mode by which living beings, both human and non-human inhabit the earth”.

The mesh of trails is so essential to inhabiting the environment because wayfaring creates an intimate bond between the walker and the environment, which couples locomotion and perception (Ingold, 2006). Thus, one learns its environment and develops that knowledge in the process of walking. By moving through a place one gives his/her personal meaning to it, thus transforming it from a place to a lived space (de Certeau, 1984). In modern hypermobility conditions walking becomes key to overcoming the disembodiment of everyday life: “on foot, everything stays connected [...]

One lives in the whole world rather than in interiors built up against it” (Solnit, 2001, p.12). Thus, the going out for a walk is a complex experience of relating oneself to the lived environment.

The lines of the mesh and the network can be physically or mentally different. Concerning the physical aspect, the banalest illustration

is a walking trail along the riverside and a highway. Mentally the same road can be experienced in a different way depending on the speed and the intention of the traveler.

The wayfarer finds on the trail places to stop, to rest, to meet others. He doesn’t hurry and does not aim to get from somewhere to somewhere. He just goes out for a walk.

WAYFARING — COMMUTING TRAIL — ROUTE MESH — NETWORK The chapels in the area are ordinary objects which you can find on your way, along the mesh of life.

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“I suspect than the mind, like the feet, works at about three miles an hour” - Rebecca Solnit (2001)

THE SPEED OF LANDSCAPE During my studies in Belgium, I could have a meeting in the morning in Ghent, a class in the afternoon in Brussels, and a workshop in the evening in Leuven. This was a quite unique experience for me, but I see enormous amounts of commuting people here every day.

How does the speed of movement influences the experience of landscape in our everyday life?

By upscaling the world to the car/train/plane and their speed, our body is seen as “too slow, fragile and unreliable” for the speed of modernity (Solnit, 2001). The journey in a train for me transforms the concept of distance into time, the terrain (and its’ stories) between two points of my travel stay intact. Back in Ukraine, I used to walk everywhere, around 40 minutes to my high school, partly because of a lack of other alternatives. However, I kept doing it during my university years, just

because I liked it.

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CHAPELS Besides a few bigger chapels as buildings for gathering, there are numerous smaller wayside chapels and shrines in the area. Very often they were constructed on the way from farmsteads to the fields, with multiple meanings including the protection of crops. Sometimes they were part of a fence or decoration of the building. But the most common feature is the location at the intersection of roads.

So probably, when I was doing my decision where to turn, there was a chapel, getting into my memory.

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wayside shrine WAYSIDE SHRINE

wayside chapel WAYSIDE CHAPEL

chapel CHAPEL

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(NOT) KNOWING THE CODES My Ukrainian friend who visited me in my Belgian home (which is in a small town) was quite excited about all the cute houses, so she went straight into people’s front yards to pose for pictures. I didn’t even think there was something wrong with it until I showed those pictures to my Belgian friends. They told that entering front gardens for pictures is rather unusual.

Probably as urban dwellers we are used that every place you can physically reach, belongs

to everyone. To indicate private space I would expect some sort of closed fences with gates or at least signs like “do not enter” or “private domain”. But there were none, so we didn’t even question the publicness of those spaces.

Local people, on the other hand, simply know that a front garden is a private property where you are not normally supposed to lay down, have a picnic or pose for pictures. Even though a front garden is visually connected to the street there exists a mental barrier.

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The anecdote from one of my walks reveals how the same object (a chapel) for some is something meaningful, while for others it’s just a wall to urinate against: I reached a chapel, previously ignored because of hunger. I stopped by to write down what was written on it. Probably because I looked so curious next to it, an old man passing by on a bicycle stopped and tried to tell me the story of that chapel. Something about a sick daughter from a rich family. When I kindly asked him to repeat it again, he probably heard my suspicious accent and started speaking French!

Which is understandable in this region, but it didn’t help me at all to follow the story. In some minutes I turned to watch the chapel again, but the image was completely different. Someone was urinating against its wall. I walked away with a faster pace.

Does it mean that the meaning of such smallscale heritage differs for those who know their stories, and for those who don’t?

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CHAPELS AS HIDEAWAYS There are no signs who owns the object, but only the name of the chapel indicating the name of the saint to whom it is dedicated. As I learnt from the discussions (G Gantois 2016, personal communication), those objects typically were not built and owned by the church, but by private persons.

I haven’t seen anyone using the chapels, neither entering them nor leaving. However, plastic flowers and never lighted candles gave

me the impression that someone is taking care of them.

The idea of public privacy hides behind the ordinary concept of the chapel. It is a privately owned object which mentally belongs to everyone. It can be used by everyone; as a shrine by those who share manifested beliefs, as an everyday mental landmark, even as a place for a community, when the object is celebrated after a renovation etc.

The typology of enterable wayside chapels is quite specific. Usually, it only provides enough space for one or two people.

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Merchtem

Source of the images: http://www.kapelletjesinvlaanderen.be/

Meise

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EXPLORATIONS

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The concept of hideaways came up in the process of designing. First, I was aimlessly crafting things which would express my fascination. Then I’ve reflected on my ideas and tried to extract the essence of the fascination.

The design thought traveled from the idea of places to rest on your way, to a network of objects framing the space to enjoy the area by amplifying its’ features, to hideaways.

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A GLIMPSE The idea to let the viewer focus on a specific view, which otherwise is not that obvious and is not framed as well as on the Roman track.

Influenced mostly by the Bruder Klaus Field Capel by Peter Zumthor.

Being located on the top of a hill, the idea was to insert a metal tube to amplify the sound of the wind.

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I have abandoned monumentality, as something creating a feeling of estrangement, which contradicted the initial idea — to create a place for people to amplify the ability to immerse into their environment.

I have kept the idea to work with views and sound.

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PURLING WATER Fascinated by the experience of purling water at the ruins of a watermill, I explored the possibility to amplify that sound.

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The massivity of the shape requires an area which is not available at the location of the watermill ruin. In addition, if the sound amplification would really work it could create an undesirable additional sound pollution for the house next to it.

My fascination with the location and the sound of water developed further.

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I have tried to understand what all the locations I found fascinating have in common.

It was not just about nice views I wanted to frame, but there was something deeper.

The places you discover only by walking, the places where you feel embedded in the environment, the places where you feel unexpected privacy.

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I thought about creating a place for a new experience on the Roman track. By lifting people up and giving them a choice to lift a rope ladder with them, the place would become temporary private with a slightly better view of the city. Although I liked that idea, the location of the ancient trees on the busy Roman track, would simply lead to a disneyfication atmosphere, without the joy of discovering this place.

Traces of this idea can be tracked in the milk factory rooftop intervention.

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Sketch of a gate which frames the view.

I discard it as too obvious, too intrusive in the already so loaded Roman route.

The shape of a hexagon is developing further.

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INTERVENTIONS

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Hideaways on your path which offer a place to stop by and linger. They are hiding from you, but leave the tiniest traces and hints, inviting you in an intimate way. They can host you for a while, but when you leave, they can be found by others.

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Behind the hill, under the grass A huge sky above and vast fertile fields around. Sometimes the sun is scorching and the sky is bright, sometimes it is cloudy and rainy. Somewhere in that vast open space, there is a tiny shelter. It is hardly visible between the high greens and to reach it one needs to find his own path by walking in the cracks of the fields. Searching what’s beyond the hill, one can find the shelter to lean against and lay down. One can hide.

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A couple of thatched roofs in the area hinted at the origin of their material — fields. The spot behind the hill I have found during one of the walks was a magnificent location to hide. In the development of the volume, I started from a cylindrical shape of a rolled bale of straw. This resulted in a thatched surface and a wooden structure.

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The shape of the object should contrast the smooth slopes of the hills. The geometrical play of hexagons creates a pointy top, which works as a subtle hint visible across the hill.

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I feel the urge to demarcate human scale in this vast open space. Similarly to ECHOVIREN project by Smith|Allen studio (2013)

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The structure should be made completely from locally produced wood — Populus Alba (witte abeel, zilverpopulier)

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The connections should be made from wooden pins, so the structure could eventually rot and dissolve in the environment.

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Straw blends in this sharp geometrical volume into its environment.

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The rooftop of absence The idyllic picturesque landscape at some point crashes into a tall ghost building. It has naked, concrete walls, with pitch black openings. It is an intriguing and unexpected neighbour.

Trespassing, climbing up that roof through its dark body to experience the ultimate absences, one finds a dead end of the landscape.

One is being brutally exposed to the sky, but completely hidden from others.

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The tower of an abandoned milk factory is an extremely interesting location, not only because of its ghostly appearance, but also because it is the highest building within the borders of a valuable landscape. The idea to trespass to the roof gives the promise to reach picturesque views and a place to hide above others.

The initial idea was to work with the existing roof condition but to add an abstract attractor which would resemble the aesthetics of pipes on industrial roofs.

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Influenced by the ‘walls against Paris’ project (Le Corbusier, 1929-31) the idea gets a twist to create a setting for a more immersive and rougher experience.

To hide or to show the new structure? I decided to hide, to blend it with the original surface and to make it invisible to have a surprise effect. Instead of directly giving away views, it becomes a place of isolation, a place where there is nothing, but the sky.

The ladder on the top of a lift shaft has a double function: to be an attractor and a hint that the roof is possible to conquer, and still give the pleasure of the views from actually the highest point in the area.

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To reach the roof one needs not only to trespass the territory of the abandoned milk factory but also to climb a 10-meter long ladder. To ensure the privacy on the roof, the lower part of the ladder can be lifted up.

The second ladder contradicts the raised walls which block any view but on the sky, but also challenges the visitor even more, by not providing any safety on the highest point.

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The new structure should be built fast and discrete, which is why the light blocks for fast construction (also likely to be the original material of the existing walls) fits this purpose the best.

Moreover, to really make the new part of the wall discrete, it should be plastered in the same color as the existing ones, and by building it up layer by layer it allows to be plastered while building it up directly from the roof, eliminating the need for scaffolding around the building.

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Down with the water Sometimes the subtle purl of water is hiding under bridges and behind fences. It is amplified by rains and underground springs.

It is irrepressible and indefatigable, it is always there. When someone sees something unusual, it might trigger curiosity. One gets closer and hears the purling water louder. There are stairs to the source of the sound. Now one can reach it. Looking in the beasts’ eyes, going down, one can hide him/herself together with the water.

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The choice of materials traces back to the missing wheel of a watermill; wood and black steel. They are used in both parts: a roof — a shed for cows/attractor to come closers, and a staircase — a device to get closer to the water and hide down between two walls.

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Search for the shape which would keep the circularity and rhythmical repetition of the wooden parts of a watermill wheel.

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The floating roof has multiple functions: to attract passers-by, to bring cows closer to the visitors by providing them a shed which also collects the rainwater into drinking bathes.

The stairs become a hideaway.

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metal join

132 — One day walk: HIDEAWAYS — Oksana Savchuk

SUMMARY The path of this project had a non-linear character. Aimless exploration of the region was exciting but full of struggle. The constant questioning of my own hasty judgments and position has lead me to the repetitive process of returning back to the site to walk, reading, writing, designing, returning to walk and so on. Gradually, I broke my personal experiences, memories, and associations into chapters, and confronted them with experience and ideas of others and a wider theoretical multidisciplinary discourse.

Walking as a research method was an amazing approach to develop context sensitivity and has largely defined the project’s process.

Looking for the essence of a bodily experience of the cultural landscape I have deepened the understanding of walking; the choice of path, the speed of walking and stopping, the views you get from the levels of eyes, the sometimes uncertain feeling of trespassing. All those explorations lead to and are reflected in my interventions ideas.

The intervention at eye level – Behind the hill, under the grass – is hiding in the middle of agricultural land. You can see it only because of the pointy top popping out more or less behind the green or brown field depending on the season. It can be reached only by walking between two fields.

The intervention Down with the water creates a playful setting. Everyone will see the floating shelter for cows, but only curious passers-by will make a step closer or simply stop for a moment, which would enable him or her to see the stairs down in the watermill pit. If there is no one already sitting there it can trigger the curiosity to go down. Then the loud purling sound of water can hide conversations or calm down thoughts.

The rooftop of absence is a device to discover not only an abandoned industrial building but also new heights with unexpected views and complete privacy where it is not meant to.

The bottom part of the ladder can be lifted up when one reaches the first level to ensure no one would disturb the exploration. The raised walls on the roof confront the explorer with his or her expectations of views, leaving him or her (or them) with only a vast sky above.

All those hideaways create a setting for passers-by to slow down and reconnect to the environment, dissolve in it. Sometimes they can be destinations, sometimes they can be simply found along the path, but sometimes they are left undiscovered by human and taken over by nature.

Oksana Savchuk — One day walk: HIDEAWAYS — 133

134 — One day walk: HIDEAWAYS — Oksana Savchuk

ARCHITECTURAL REFERENCES ‘publiek huis’ for ‘BEELD IN PARK’ (Wim Cuyvers, 2003) in the Felix Happark in Brussels.

Bruder Klaus Field Chapel (Peter Zumthor, 2007)

Available at: http://64.130.44.79/ploggerb2/index.php?level=picture&id=83 http://64.130.44.79/ploggerb2/index.php?level=picture&id=238 [Accessed 21 May 2016].

Available at: http://www.archdaily.com/106352/bruder-klaus-field-chapelArguably the most interesting aspects of the church are found in the methods of construction, beginning with a wigwam made of 112 tree trunks. Upon completion of peter-zumthor [Accessed 28 Apr 2016]. the frame, layers of concrete were poured and rammed atop the existing surface,

The author broke a piece of the fence of the park and placed a box with a door on the street side. It contained a small room with a chair, a table, a lamp and a bed with daily changed sheets. The door could be closed only from the inside. In this way, the installation gave a possibility to transform a piece of public space into private, but only temporary, as long as users would stay inside.

Such installation is very controversial, it’s is not secured, not controlled, available for anyone. I am fascinated by the essence of the idea to give a little bit of privacy in public space.

Bruder Klaus Field Chapel / Peter Zumthor © Thomas Mayer

“To me, buildings can have a beauti composure, self-evidence, durability sensuousness as well; a building th representing anything, just being.” P each around 50cm thick. When the concrete of all 24 layers had set, the wooden frame was set on fire, leaving behind a hollowed blackened cavity and charred walls.

The most powerful aspect of this building is the construction process: a wigwam made of tree trunks was poured with concrete and set on fire. Thus, the rough surface of interior resembles something ghostly, which is not there, while the smooth exterior hides it.

There is a play between the massivity of the concrete block and the fragility of the interior with an opening on top which not only lets in rays of light but also rain and snow.

This chapel stands on the hill in the middle of a field, with no road leading towards it. To find the entrance you need to walk around it.

First, it appears as a square concrete block, when you find the door you can enter to the parallel, mystical world. I like the sequence of unexpected discovery in it.

Oksana Savchuk — One day walk: HIDEAWAYS — 135

Walls Against Paris: The Rooftop Garden of the Charles de Beistegui Apartment (Le Corbusier, 1929-31)

ECHOVIREN (Smith|Allen studio, 2013)

Available at: http://socks-studio.com/2014/01/19/walls-against-paris-the-rooftop-garden-of-the-charles-de-beistegui-apartment-le-corbusier-1929-31/ [Accessed 1 June 2016].

Available at: http://cargocollective.com/SmithAllen/ECHOVIREN [Accessed 1 June 2016].

Surrealistic, irrational and alien to later Le Corbusier projects. A roof terrace with heigh walls which block the view on Paris, but frame the tops of the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe. Filled with furniture and even a fireplace, it creates a feeling of a living room without a roof.

The playful and unexpected move to take away the views from where they are expected the most has intrigued me.

“Echoviren is a simple shelter, a hermitage, a place of temporary rest and contemplation of the forest.” This modest structure demarcates human scale in the space of the forest. Its’ white translucent structure contrasts to the forest environment.

Composed of bio-plastic it will eventually decompose, meanwhile weathering and being reclaimed by forest plants and animals.

I developed the idea of demarking human scale in an – although different – contrasty fashion with eventual complete dissolvent of the intervention into its surroundings.

136 — One day walk: HIDEAWAYS — Oksana Savchuk

REFERENCES De Certeau, M., 1984. Walking in the City.

Ellis, C., Adams, T.E. and Bochner, A.P., 2011. Autoethnography: an overview. Historical Social Research/Historische Sozialforschung, pp.273-290.

European Commision, 2014. Regional Working Paper 2014. A harmonised definition of cities and rural areas: the new degree of urbanisation.[PDF]Available at: http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/sources/docgener/work/2014_01_new_urban.pdf [Accessed 30 Dec. 2015].

Ingold, T., 2006. Up, across and along. Place and Location: Studies in Environmental Aesthetics and Semiotics, 5, pp.21-36. Available at: http://www.eki.ee/km/ place/pdf/kp5_02_ingold.pdf. [Accessed 20 Nov. 2015].

Gantois G., 2015a. Protocol for One day walk. [study guide]. KU Leuven, Department of Architecture.

Gantois G., 2015b. Study guide. [study guide]. KU Leuven, Department of Architecture.

Leinfelder, H. and Vanempten, E., 2008. Spatial planning challenges-impressions. [Workshop report from the Conference “Rurality near the city” | Leuven, February 7-8th, 2008)]. [PDF] Avalible at: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Elke_Vanempten/publication/228460644_Spatial_planning_challenges-impressions/links/5450b4080cf201441e938e01.pdf [Accessed 15 Feb. 2016].

Lefebvre, H., 1996. Chapter 10. Town and Country. In: Writings on cities (Vol. 63, No. 2). Oxford: Blackwell.

LOW (het Laboratorium voor de Ontwikkeling van het nieuwe Wonen), (2015). MLM-001 LEXICON. Malem, Gent.

Mabilde, J. & Loeckx, A. 2016. Metropolitan landscapes: open ruimte als basis voor stedelijke ontwikkeling: espace ouvert, base de développement urbain. Brussel: Vlaams Bouwmeester. [PDF]. Avalible at: http://www.vlaamsbouwmeester.be/sites/default/files/uploads/MetropolitanLandscapes_web.pdf [Accessed 6 Apr. 2016].

Solnit, R., 2001. Wanderlust: A history of walking. Penguin.

Oxforddictionaries.com., 2016. Rurban - definition of rurban in English from the Oxford dictionary. [online] Available at: http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/ definition/english/rurban [Accessed 6 Apr. 2016].

United Nations Statistics Division, 2005. Demographic Yearbook. Table 6. [PDF] Available at: http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/products/dyb/dyb2005/ notestab06.pdf [Accessed 30 Dec. 2015].

ABSTRACT This thesis is a part of the One Day Walk studio. It explores spatial qualities of the rurban area of the Brabantse Kouter (in particular Brussegem, Meise and in between). It is based on walking as a research method, which developed a very personal and bodily experience of the site. My explorations brought in conversation with the theoretical discourse are condensed into several topics: mesh, a speed of movement, distorted perception and public-private codes. The combination of those concepts with selected locations from my walks has lead to three proposals for interventions; places on your path which offer a place to stop by and linger. They are hiding from you, but leave gentle traces and hints to be found. They can host you for a while, but when you leave, they can be found by others.

They can offer you a temporary shelter, a place to rest, a place to think, a place to daydream, a place to experience, a place to feel, a place to hide. — HIDEAWAYS.