(B)XL in the making

Ecole Nationale d'Architecure de Strasbourg

Idea projektu

This project questions the Flagey square in Ixelles (XL) located in the south of Brussels (BXL). The requalification aims on providing a new public space for the inhabitants close by the square, focusing on practical matters such as, pedestrian and motorized flow, but also on more abstracts aspects like opportunities or encounters for and between populations with different social backgrounds in a mainly residential neighborhood.  

Popis projektu

The public space layout has been redesigned to link it in a smoother way to its context. A water circle, bringing a material connection with the pounds near by, is combined with a slope (leading to an underground sport facility) and the two bases of the building to control the inner ( pedestrian) and outer flow (motorized) of the square.

The building is divided in 3 clusters operating in symbiosis : knowledge, know-how, make it be known to avoid an unifunctional program in order to maximize the range of attraction and possibilities of the building.

Each of the shapes composing the building answers to an urbanistic matter. The idea was to scale the building to make it dialog with its different areas of influence. The smallest of the towers is right above the tallest building of the square and focuses on the neighborhood (XL). The tallest one can be seen from Brussels' city center (BXL) while the slab, linking the two shapes together, is included in the volumetric space of the square. This allows to expand the original public space but also to provides new points of perception for it.

Technické informace

With a total of 18000 m², the project footprint on the 9000m² Flagey square is only of 1000m².
A special attention has been given to the lighting of the underground sports facility with all the different sports courts receiving natural and indirectal light.