Rue Neuve’s actual strength becomes its weakness: its almost mono functionalism is a commercial and urban entertainment “locomotive” - but only in working hours from Monday to Saturday. This marks a rupture of urbanity in the city which needs to be healed by bringing back the animation in the evenings and on Sundays, thus reinforcing the social control in the evenings and holidays as well as its commercial attractiveness. The essence of any intervention: besides a Sunday market, housing, catering, leisure and cultural facilities have to necessarily and significantly be (re)instituted in order to create a friendly social environment. To return housing on the empty floors above the shops of the Rue Neuve, means mainly to restore the independent access to upper floors for the small shops when this kind of access has been removed. This can be done by creating a multifunctional building as compensation and "relay outlet» at the corner of Rue Neuve / rue de Malines, highly visible, light weighted and with green designed top floors in order to enhance the visual appeal of this junction. Covering Rue Neuve between Place Rogier and Place de la Monnaie will also increase the comfort of the commercial flow, the sustainability of the urban equipment and ease its maintenance.
- Typology
- Paysage, espaces urbains
- Status
- Proposition
- Year of conception
- 2011
