Katleen Vanagt

The Mangle House concerns the transformation of one of the last abandoned factory sites in the city of Liège.

Idea

The Mangle House responds to a specific need of contemporary mankind, who wants to be able to spend his leisure time in a free way.

In this complex of inter-related buildings, all the annoying minor tasks (such as ironing, car washing, etc.) can either be done for you, or you can do them yourself, but this time in a different and pleasant way.

Moreover, there are activity areas, where you can spend your newly acquired leisure time.

Thus, on this very site, a new space emerges where some sort of ‘traffic’ between « household tasks » and « leisure time » can take place. Social meeting is important in the project.

Context

The Mangle House is positioned on the factory site of EMBEL in Longdoz, an abandoned steel factory along the Meuse, and is closely connected to the shopping center – Belgacom Longdoz, and the highway to the Ardennes.

The spacial quality of the factory (34 000 m2) consists of a series of 85 connected halls.

The position of the factory has been analysed in the context of the city in its present situation : in the first place with regard to the other deserted factory sites in Liège, but equally with the underlying question in mind of how this terrain- after its transformation could initiate other transformations. In this way, the city could become part of a continuing process of change.

Fascination

The Mangle House reflects my fascination for this introvert building-area in Liège, with its multi-layered structure of levels of publicity (the public, the semi-public and the private). This multi-layered structure is equally literally present on a spatial level.

Programme

-Mangel House = activities and services creating spare time;

-Activity Halls = activities with which to spend one’s leisure time (in existing halls)

-Work-halls = offices and studios (in the existing halls);

-Beacons-Meuse = houses and offices on the top of the new buildings of the Mangle House ;

-Hang-Outs = collective name for the 100 % public areas in each of the above spaces.

Project

An urbanist masterplan was developed, outlining the organisation of the various units of the programme.

My project focuses on the Mangle House and the Hang-Outs.

The Mangle House consists of a long Laundry-Gallery (=public space), new volumes (=private spaces) on the side of the Meuse, and a big hall (from semi-public to public).

The laundry gallery (=longitudinal section) connects the various spaces of the Mangle House with each other, as well as with the activity halls.

Social meetings take place in the Hang-Outs (=transversal section), a series of public spaces connecting – right through the entire area – the shopping center/railway station (situated somewhat behind) to the Meuse.

Thus a network of public, semi-public and private spaces emerges.

The factory was lying meaninglessly along the Meuse. The Mangle House can give meaning to the site again, as well as to the Meuse and its direct surroundings. The former railway, which used to connect the various factories with one another, is re-established in its old glory. In this way, both the Mangle House and its surrounding abondoned factory sites will be better enclosed. Moreover, a structure like this also grants Liège the opportunity to extend the city centre and to tansform into a city that lives with the Meuse.

* The term ‘CalandrIer’ is a contraction of the French word ‘calandrer’ which means tot mangle, and of the word ‘calendrier’ (calender) which is, of course, a reference to time and to time-spending...

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