Urban Living Room

KU Leuven Faculty of Architecture - Campus Sint-Lucas Rue des Palais 65-67 1030 Schaerbeek Brussels

MAIB24 Design Studio 2020 The emanation of the commons

urban living room

tutors: Jasmien Wouters Patrick Moyersoen Petra Pferdmenges

student: Tereza Šírerová

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4 site introduction

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6 current situation

3 4 5 6 7 8

8 concept

12 volumetric presence

14 plans

18 sections

22 tectonic

22 colophon

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site plan

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01 06

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office district

typology of buildings and its users

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studence

Real estate developments after Manhattan demolishment. Mostly administrative buildings attracting young adults, mostly Europeans. Lack of living and leisure opportunities. The built mass has no regard for human scale

Modernist complex of public housing and student residence. Relatively affluent inhabitants. Half owns their dwellings. Concentration of young, single adults and students.

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04 nineteenth century family houses

social housing Foyer Laekenois

Complex of six modernist slabs on a podium, built in 1978. Mostly only smaller dwellings in a bad condition.

High concentration of overfifties, teenagers and single mothers. 47 procent of inhabitants is unemployed.

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Klavertjevier School

Very high amount of young children.

Very low amount of children friendly spaces and leuisure activities.

Mostly larger rental dwellings inhabited by young, migrant families, single mens, single mothers.Half of the residents is foreign historically mostly North-African and Turkish, now Eastern Europeans.

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self made refugee home

Since 2015, refugees have been increasingly present in the Brussels Nord landscape. The camp in the Maximiliaanpark was officially closed. But the park as well as the north station remain a central point for (trans)migrants.

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social housing Foyer Laekenois

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abandoned parking building

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blind ground floor facades

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unatractiv nooks

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concept

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An architectural proposal for a shared space in a city without mayorities Brussels North, what was supposed to become the economic hub of Europe, turned into a desolate place of emptiness, inactivity and anonimity. with higly diverse population.

The main aim of this project is to return a public space to the locals and respond to the demand for facilities. The fact is that this predominantly residential neighborhood has very few amenities within walking distance.

At a time when cities are very dense and people often live in very poor and cramped living conditions at the cost of city life. Shared space is the only way to achieve a good standard of living.

The stage under the complex of social houses Foyer Laekenois is a space with untapped potential as empty spaces offer socio-cultural solutions.

Therefore, this project is focused on the transformation of an empty parking building into an active public space, offering space for sport, leisure, community activities but also premises for rent for missing services.

The space under the slab becomes a public living room, where it is possible to perform all activities that people are even not able to imagine in their small apartments.

The community garden above the slab then compensates the built-up plot and creates a quiet semi-public oasis, as a replacement for Maximilien Park, which is becoming a city farm.

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concept of motion

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concept

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The presence of circle symbolizes unity Circle is here to shed light on what we all have in common: to demonstrate that the appearance of difference is an illusion

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library and co-working space

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community house

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community sport center

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volumetric presence in the urban landscape

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The presence of the project does not disturb the urban landscape in any way, as it is an already existing mass. On the contrary, the conversion of a parking building into a public space removes the barrier and allows smoother and more natural movement of people.

At the same time, the opening of the first floor of all residential buildings for retail rent, both in the street and inside the block, will not only create a new living business promenade, but will also provide a considerable number of job opportunities.

The concept of a semi-public park on top of the desk is based on the already planned project of a green belt connected to the Maximilien Park and on the banks of the Seena river. In addition, with the planned transformation of Maximilien Park into a city farm, this area will remain as a green compensation for inhabitants leisure activities.

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ground floor plan

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public crossroads

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retails to rent

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community house

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library and co-working space

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community sport center

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S 1:500

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first floor plan

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community garden

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semi-public space

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S 1:500

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25

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cross section

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S 1:200

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longitudinal section

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S 1:200

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tectonic

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colophon

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Urban living room is an architectural proposal for a shared space in a city without mayorities. It is the outcome of Master programme Design Studio taking place in the summer semester 2020. Design Studio The Emanation of the Commons was organized by Jasmien Wouters , Patrick Moyersoen and Petra Pferdmenges under the auspices of KU Leuven Faculty of Architecture – Campus Sint Lucas.

I would like to thank all the tutors for their support, especially in this extraordinary situation, and at the same time to all my classmates who stayed in touch and shared the observations of this study with me despite long distances.

KU Leuven Faculty of Architecture - Campus Sint-Lucas Rue des Palais 65-67 1030 Schaerbeek Brussels

MAIB24 Design Studio The emanation of the commons

tutors: Jasmien Wouters Patrick Moyersoen Petra Pferdmenges

student: Tereza Šírerová