Jacquet Network of Public Spaces
The proposed project stems from the Jacquet Sustainable Neighbourhood Contract, which aims to significantly improve the lives of neighbourhood residents, in particular by providing high-quality public spaces as additional living spaces to compensate for the high building density.
The project offers a series of varied public spaces to residents while rethinking the landscape and urban sequences of this part of the city, which currently suffers from a lack of continuity and clarity due to the presence of numerous fractures, which are physical, visual (short and discontinuous streets), and infrastructural (railway, Boulevard Léopold II).
Four themes form the common thread of the project: renaturing, equipping, managing rainwater, and slowing down. These have been broken down into three areas according to the specific characteristics of the neighbourhood (the course of the Parucq river, topography, commercial units, etc.): ‘le mail Jacquet’, the ‘Promenade des étangs’ and finally ‘les Venelles’.
* A Network of streets and squares in Koekelberg (Public Space, Masterplan, Citizen Participation), 50 ha, Brussel, Belgium, 2023 – ongoing, with Lokus Landscape.
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Key elements of the project :
- A broken bond of trust between residents and public authorities.
- Intensive participation process with different audiences and stakeholders, with a specific focus on the inclusive use of public space.
- Participation tools used: bilateral consultations prior to collective forums, a project center, analog and digital communication tailored to the target audience.
- Programming exercise carried out with the community
The Square Jacques Franck project aims to extrapolate the existing situation by increasing the number of activities (recreational, sporting, landscape) in order to dilute the current over-importance of the city stadium. A comb-like layout is proposed, alternating between programmed spaces (city stadium, play modules, commercial pavilion) and green spaces. Far from being a fixed form, this proposal serves as a framework for participatory actions, as it allows for the targeting of areas to be equipped and others to be planted with vegetation. This figure allows for the creation of a variety of spaces with different atmospheres and facilities, while ensuring a common identity.
The traffic pattern has been redesigned to optimize car space without losing parking spaces, and to free the square from fast-moving traffic (bicycles, scooters) by organizing it on a green strip along the edge. A large part of the square is thus calmed and greened. Seven sub-spaces have been created, including three gardens. The city stadium is thus surrounded by two gardens containing various facilities (play modules, workout equipment, street furniture, vegetable beds, etc.), which will be specified during participatory workshops.
During the four months of on-site consultations in the square, one of the most frequently criticized aspects of the current project concerned the benches: poorly positioned, uncomfortable, hard, and cold. After a detailed survey of the eight different types of benches present, we proposed several reconfigurations as well as wooden additions (backrests, seats) to improve their comfort and usability.
- A broken bond of trust between residents and public authorities.
- Intensive participation process with different audiences and stakeholders, with a specific focus on the inclusive use of public space.
- Participation tools used: bilateral consultations prior to collective forums, a project center, analog and digital communication tailored to the target audience.
- Programming exercise carried out with the community
The Square Jacques Franck project aims to extrapolate the existing situation by increasing the number of activities (recreational, sporting, landscape) in order to dilute the current over-importance of the city stadium. A comb-like layout is proposed, alternating between programmed spaces (city stadium, play modules, commercial pavilion) and green spaces. Far from being a fixed form, this proposal serves as a framework for participatory actions, as it allows for the targeting of areas to be equipped and others to be planted with vegetation. This figure allows for the creation of a variety of spaces with different atmospheres and facilities, while ensuring a common identity.
The traffic pattern has been redesigned to optimize car space without losing parking spaces, and to free the square from fast-moving traffic (bicycles, scooters) by organizing it on a green strip along the edge. A large part of the square is thus calmed and greened. Seven sub-spaces have been created, including three gardens. The city stadium is thus surrounded by two gardens containing various facilities (play modules, workout equipment, street furniture, vegetable beds, etc.), which will be specified during participatory workshops.
During the four months of on-site consultations in the square, one of the most frequently criticized aspects of the current project concerned the benches: poorly positioned, uncomfortable, hard, and cold. After a detailed survey of the eight different types of benches present, we proposed several reconfigurations as well as wooden additions (backrests, seats) to improve their comfort and usability.