Poster Joint Doctoral Seminar 16
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Domaine Royal de Laeken - - Parc de Laeken 35.4 1876 Parc Roi Baudouin 109.4 - Phase I, II, III 36.7 1981-89 Laerbeek 35.2 - Poelbos 9.7 - Dieleghem 11.7 - Marias de Ganshoren-Jee 16.1 - Zavelenberg 16.3 - Parc Elisabeth 14.9 1870-91 Bois du Wilder 8.2 - Scheutbos 44 - Parc du Scheutebos 6.2 1995 Parc Astrid - 1911 Parc régional de la Pede - - Parc des Étangs - - Parc Josaphat 23 1904 Parc de Bruxelles 13 1776 Parc du Cinquantenaire 34.2 1880 Parc Léopold 6 1850 Parc de Woluwe 69.3 1906 Parc Duden 22.8 1912 Bois de la Cambre 102 1862 Parc du Wolvendael 14 1763 Parc Tournai-Solvay 7.4 1935 Sonian Forest 1,644¹ - PARK / FOREST AREA (ha) YEAR CREATED Understanding the various ways that different social groups value public space is a crucial, yet often absent step in contemporary urban plan- ning, design and development processes. Ap- propriate methods and techniques for gathering, synthesizing, and graphically representing cultural knowledge within the practice of urbanism remain underdeveloped. Yet, the field of urbanism is in- creasingly influenced by anthropological and so- ciological research approaches; the application of borrowed ethnographic and observational tech- niques demand alternative forms of interpretation that move beyond conventional readings and rep- resentations of urban/rural and city/nature. Mapping can offer urbanists a critical interpretive lens in which to work and can inform and influ- ence each step in research and design processes. Using mapping as a method for trans-disciplinary data and information synthesis, alternative roles and scenarios can begin to emerge even at very early stages in the research process. CASE 01/ PARC ROI BAUDOIUN The current one-dimensional image of the park as protected ‘nature reserve’ is an invented rep- resentation that only serves to limit and restrict its potential in the region and fails to reflect its tur- bulent history or respond to contemporary social challenges. While Parc Roi Baudouin projects an image of nature, there is little natural about its ev- olution and contemporary state; a violent past is hidden within a pristine and protected landscape. The real value or potential value of the park within the Brussels-Capital Region (BCR) cannot be chal- lenged as long its prevailing identity is limited to a restored and preserved ‘piece of nature’ in the city. This distorted representation of an area with a long history of human interference effectively restricts the park from being much else other than a place to protect – as is evident with recent ‘fenced’ inter- ventions aimed at mitigating human-caused deg- radation of large areas of the park. Yet, restricting access is effectively fragmenting a park that was created with the main purpose of united fragment- ed wetlands and wooded areas. Since 1996, this image of the park as a nature reserve has been further enhanced through policies protecting it as an area with a high level of biodiversity. If there has been a continuous effort to ‘restore’ the park since its inception, one must ask just what it is being restored to? Why? And for whom? In 1960, less than 20 years before Parc Roi Bau- douin was first proposed less than 8% of Brussels residents were foreign born. By 1995, only 6 years after the 3rd and final phase of the park was com- plete, this number has risen to 30%. Today this number is more than 50%. The reality of the BCR today is that of a plurality of cultures and lifestyles. A public park of this magnitude requires more than one image to satisfy the needs and demands of multiple ‘publics’. As cultural diversity increases, new or unintended uses and demands on public spaces will continue to emerge. To be success- ful today and resilient for the future, any contem- porary large public space must convey multiple, even conflicting meanings of place. In order to be an inclusive and intercultural public space within the city, the identity of the park must be rethought and represented to reflect the cultural diversity of the region and specifically of the areas west of the Brussels-Charleroi canal. Data sources: Brussels Institute for Statistics and Analysis (January 2008) / IBGE - Institut bruxellois pour la gestion de l’environnement / ECLI - European Cultural Landscape Itineraries / REPRESENTING PARK / LIFE Parc Roi Baudouin Parks and open spaces Low lying and ‘wet’ areas of the region Existing and former watercourses Brussels-Charleroi canal Chaussée de Dieleghem (today Chaussée de Jette) PLOWED / STRIPPED / PLANTED / ANNEXED / HARVESTED / INVADED / RESTORED ? 0 1000 m 1000 m 0 2007 1950 1925 1900 1870 1770 1550 1150 SPREAD OF URBANIZATION IN THE BRUSSELS REGION POINTS + PATHS MAJOR PUBLIC PARKS AND OPEN SPACES IN THE BRUSSELS REGION 1981-89 PARC ROI BAUDOUIN ESTABLISHED 1974-76 R0 RING ROAD BUILT 1955 WATER COLLECTOR BUILT, MOLENBEEK BURIED, WETLANDS DRAINED 1940-44 SIGNIFICANT PART OF FOREST CUT TO PRODUCE RIFLES THROUGH WWII 1834 - 37 BRUSSELS - TERMONDE RAIL LINE BUILT, CUTTING WETLANDS IN HALF; TODAY, THIS IS ATTRIBUTED TO SAVING THE WET- LANDS FROM DEVELOPMENT BY DEVALUING THE LAND 1800 FOREST COVERS MORE THAN 100 HA OF THE MOLENBEEK VALLEY 1968-71 ROMAN VILLA EXCAVATED 1908 CHALET DU LAERBEEK BUILT 1797 - 98 ABBEY DESTROYED EXCEPT FOR ONE BUILDING WITH MORE RECREATIONAL THAN RELIGIOUS IMPORTANCE; LAND DIVID- ED AND SOLD, 2/3 OF TIMBER HARVESTED 1796 BELGIUM ANNEXED TO FRANCE; ABBEY GOODS AND PROPERTY SEIZED AND SOLD (INCLUDING APPROX. 750 HA IN FOREST AND FARM LAND, 4 WATER MILLS AND ONE WIND- MILL 1973 CASTLE DIELEGHEM DESTROYED 1600 QUARRY ABANDONED DUE TO RECUR- RENT FLOODING; 5 HA AREA FORESTED AS FOR NEW SOURCE OF INCOME 1300 QUARRY FOUNDED 200 ROMAN VILLA CONSTRUCTED 1095 DIELEGHEM ABBEY FOUNDED RE-PRESENTING PARK / LIFE
description
Poster presented at the 16th Joint Doctoral Seminar on History and Theory of Architecture on June 5th in Hasselt, Belgium.
Transcript of Poster Joint Doctoral Seminar 16
1000 m0
1870
1900
1925
1950
2007
1770
1550 1150
Spread of urbanization in the Brussels Region
Domaine Royal de Laeken - -
Parc de Laeken 35.4 1876
Parc Roi Baudouin 109.4 -
Phase I, II, III 36.7 1981-89
Laerbeek 35.2 -
Poelbos 9.7 -
Dieleghem 11.7 -
Marias de Ganshoren-Jett e 16.1 -
Zavelenberg 16.3 -
Parc Elisabeth 14.9 1870-91
Bois du Wilder 8.2 -
Scheutbos 44 -
Parc du Scheutebos 6.2 1995
Parc Astrid - 1911
Parc régional de la Pede - -
Parc des Étangs - -
Parc Josaphat 23 1904
Parc de Bruxelles 13 1776
Parc du Cinquantenaire 34.2 1880
Parc Léopold 6 1850
Parc de Woluwe 69.3 1906
Parc Duden 22.8 1912
Bois de la Cambre 102 1862
Parc du Wolvendael 14 1763
Parc Tournai-Solvay 7.4 1935
Sonian Forest 1,644¹ -
PARK / FOREST AREA (ha) YEAR CREATED
Understanding the various ways that different social groups value public space is a crucial, yet often absent step in contemporary urban plan-ning, design and development processes. Ap-propriate methods and techniques for gathering, synthesizing, and graphically representing cultural knowledge within the practice of urbanism remain underdeveloped. Yet, the fi eld of urbanism is in-creasingly infl uenced by anthropological and so-ciological research approaches; the application of borrowed ethnographic and observational tech-niques demand alternative forms of interpretation that move beyond conventional readings and rep-resentations of urban/rural and city/nature.
Mapping can offer urbanists a critical interpretive lens in which to work and can inform and infl u-ence each step in research and design processes. Using mapping as a method for trans-disciplinary data and information synthesis, alternative roles and scenarios can begin to emerge even at very early stages in the research process.
CASE 01/ PARC ROI BAUDOIUNThe current one-dimensional image of the park as protected ‘nature reserve’ is an invented rep-resentation that only serves to limit and restrict its potential in the region and fails to refl ect its tur-bulent history or respond to contemporary social challenges. While Parc Roi Baudouin projects an image of nature, there is little natural about its ev-olution and contemporary state; a violent past is hidden within a pristine and protected landscape.
The real value or potential value of the park within the Brussels-Capital Region (BCR) cannot be chal-lenged as long its prevailing identity is limited to a
restored and preserved ‘piece of nature’ in the city. This distorted representation of an area with a long history of human interference effectively restricts the park from being much else other than a place to protect – as is evident with recent ‘fenced’ inter-ventions aimed at mitigating human-caused deg-radation of large areas of the park. Yet, restricting access is effectively fragmenting a park that was created with the main purpose of united fragment-ed wetlands and wooded areas. Since 1996, this image of the park as a nature reserve has been further enhanced through policies protecting it as an area with a high level of biodiversity. If there has been a continuous effort to ‘restore’ the park since its inception, one must ask just what it is being restored to? Why? And for whom?
In 1960, less than 20 years before Parc Roi Bau-douin was fi rst proposed less than 8% of Brussels residents were foreign born. By 1995, only 6 years after the 3rd and fi nal phase of the park was com-plete, this number has risen to 30%. Today this number is more than 50%. The reality of the BCR today is that of a plurality of cultures and lifestyles.
A public park of this magnitude requires more than one image to satisfy the needs and demands of multiple ‘publics’. As cultural diversity increases, new or unintended uses and demands on public spaces will continue to emerge. To be success-ful today and resilient for the future, any contem-porary large public space must convey multiple, even confl icting meanings of place. In order to be an inclusive and intercultural public space within the city, the identity of the park must be rethought and represented to refl ect the cultural diversity of the region and specifi cally of the areas west of the Brussels-Charleroi canal.
Data sources: Brussels Institute for Statistics and Analysis (January 2008) / IBGE - Institut bruxellois pour la gestion de l’environnement / ECLI - European Cultural Landscape Itineraries /
REPRESENTING PARK / LIFE
Parc Roi Baudouin
Parks and open spaces
Low lying and ‘wet’ areas of the region
Existing and former watercourses
Brussels-Charleroi canal
Chaussée de Dieleghem (today Chaussée de Jette)
1000 m0
PLOWED / STRIPPED / PLANTED / ANNEXED / HARVESTED / INVADED / RESTORED ?
0 1000 m
1000 m0
20071950192519001870177015501150
SPREAD OF URBANIZATION IN THE BRUSSELS REGION POINTS + PATHSMAJOR PUBLIC PARKS AND OPEN SPACES IN THE BRUSSELS REGION
1981-89 PARC ROI BAUDOUIN ESTABLISHED
1974-76 R0 RING ROAD BUILT
1955 WATER COLLECTOR BUILT, MOLENBEEK BURIED, WETLANDS DRAINED
1940-44 SIGNIFICANT PART OF FOREST CUT TO PRODUCE RIFLES THROUGH WWII
1834 - 37 BRUSSELS - TERMONDE RAIL LINE BUILT, CUTTING WETLANDS IN HALF; TODAY, THIS IS ATTRIBUTED TO SAVING THE WET-LANDS FROM DEVELOPMENT BY DEVALUING THE LAND
1800 FOREST COVERS MORE THAN 100 HA OF THE MOLENBEEK VALLEY
1968-71 ROMAN VILLA EXCAVATED
1908 CHALET DU LAERBEEK BUILT
1797 - 98 ABBEY DESTROYED EXCEPT FOR ONE BUILDING WITH MORE RECREATIONAL THAN RELIGIOUS IMPORTANCE; LAND DIVID-ED AND SOLD, 2/3 OF TIMBER HARVESTED
1796 BELGIUM ANNEXED TO FRANCE; ABBEY GOODS AND PROPERTY SEIZED AND SOLD (INCLUDING APPROX. 750 HA IN FOREST AND FARM LAND, 4 WATER MILLS AND ONE WIND-MILL
1973 CASTLE DIELEGHEM DESTROYED
1600 QUARRY ABANDONED DUE TO RECUR-RENT FLOODING; 5 HA AREA FORESTED AS FOR NEW SOURCE OF INCOME
1300 QUARRY FOUNDED
200 ROMAN VILLA CONSTRUCTED
1095 DIELEGHEM ABBEY FOUNDED
RE-PRESENTING PARK / LIFE
