Olivier Crepin & Sarah de Rosa & Claire Falise & Pauline Pirnay
Residual territory: from obsolescence to regeneration. ULiège (Belgium)
Our immersion in the territory of the Orneau watershed has been marked by a diversity of abandoned, abandoned spaces. These spaces, to which we have given the qualifier of "residues", thus formed the starting point for our investigation: abandoned industrial buildings, desecrated churches, wastelands, empty commercial ground floors, devitalised squares, river approaches, quarries, etc...
This research analyzes the territorial residues resulting from practices, objects and infrastructures that are now obsolete. Their mapping paves the way for a regeneration project aimed at reinventing links, opening up villages and integrating infrastructure as constituent elements of daily life.
The investigation was deepened on two enclaved villages, Onoz and Mornimont, taken between the highway, the railway and the canalized Sambre, leaving traces of the arrival of these infrastructures. Based on a detailed analysis of the residues, three regeneration strategies have been defined: strengthening east-west connections, extending the vegetation network from the forest to the heart of the village and recreating an active centrality linking the two residential poles.
The project begins with a "scenario 0" of preparation that reveals the territory’s potential through light interventions. Independent of future trajectories, it constitutes an essential prerequisite. On this basis, two possible evolution scenarios have been developed.
Two prospective trajectories emerge. Scenario 1 anticipates a dynamic of growth: the increase in population and the evolution of needs transform the central pole into a place that hosts new social, cultural and productive functions, while enhancing the intrinsic qualities of residues. Conversely, scenario 2 explores the hypothesis of a decline: the center is reinvented as a «stock forest», where buildings are preserved and converted into storage and work spaces related to rail freight, while vegetation becomes denser. In both cases, territorial residues are the key to regeneration and valorization of the territory.
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