Brigitte Pinte
Centre Culturel Josaphat. ISAI Lambert Lombard Liège (Belgium)
Location
The Josaphat site, near the center of Brussels, is a 24 hectares big area that remains from the railway industry. There are still 4 railtracks crossing the whole territory. The area is one big hole. It is 8 meters beneath the surrounding buildings. The area is hidden and it seems it doesn’t exist.
Concept
3 urban bridges cross the railways to connect the surroundings and to keep the identity, the morphology of the site. The hole is waiting for further development while the bridges are the main pedestrian urban axes. People can cross the area and see it so it starts to exist.
The road known as the big belt of Brussels crosses the railway at one end of the territory and this is the bridge i decided to develop more. It is enlarged to create an invitation into the area.
Architecture
The cultural center is an open urban space with 10 different buildings. Most of them are connected by an underground parking. The buildings go from one side of the railway to the other to create an urban bridge. From this bridge you can see the area. All the ground levels are made public by different activities. The architecture of each building has to support the new strong identity of the area. The human scale is present through large public space and the benched walls that seem smaller than they are.
Theatre
The public foyer of the theatre connects the natural level that is an expo room, with the bridge level that if the entrance of the theatre. You can cross the building vertically.
The benched walls and the glass ground level is according to the same logic as the 9 other buildings. To give a special meaning to the building it should be recognisable. The dubbel skin, with perforations in front of the windows gives the building a very clear and identifiable form.
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