Midden
The municipality of Boechout balances between a rural town and an increasingly densified urban condition.
At first glance, this appears to be a serious and classical problem: Urbanization as a creeping venom, resulting in a loss of coherence and identity of the pleasant green town. The Flemish Diamond as an enemy. The village as a victim. All trees gone. Concrete jungle. The new foreseen program on the former BMT site is no walk in the park: 400 additional houses, 1500m² commercial space, community facilities, the expansion of the St. Gabriel College.
80 Dwellings and commercial spaces
Boechout-Belgium
2012-2014
We plead for a shift of paradigm: evolving from shame to pride. We investigate a number of distinct forms of housing and addresses: the plaza, the residential area, the urban villas. Parochial density with references to the terraced houses of notables and old workers closes in mind. The small but strong arsenal of building parts and tectonic choices reveals the same DNA for all buildings: pedestals, canopies, eaves, tables, chimneys, window frames, masonry bonds, parapets. Robust materials with an eye for refinement: hand molded bricks, exposed concrete, wood, brass, crisp white steel accents.
photography Bart Gosselin