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vilvoorde: city of the Zenne

Part 2 Project 2006
buggenhout sofie
 WENK Sint Lucas Brussels | Belgium
The main issue of the project is the Zenne, a river that flows through a broad range of very diverse areas. The heavily polluted river has been treated merely as a sewage (marginalised and hidden) in the urban fabric of the old industrial site of Vilvoorde, a small town near Brussels.
The town plans to turn this large industrial site into an area for urban development. The river then could play a major role to enhance the living and environmental qualities of the site, provided that it gets purifyed.
A investigation has been done into possible natural, durable purification methods that could be implemented in an interesting spatial and ‘landscaping’ way. The choice was made to restore the original meandering of the Zenne (as a natural ‘monument’). Out of this meandering process a buffer-park area has been designed, catching possible floods. In order to recover the rivers water quality a patchwork of reed land connected to a grid of draining canals has been layed out on the entire site, so all drained water (households, industry and paved surfaces) in the Zenne is purified.
Five self-purifying buildings are planted as landmarks in the flood area (urban park), connecting the urban fabric with the landscape.

The purification system stipulates the architecture, but just as much the landscape and the urban structure of the site.



This project develops an ecological system that structures space from urbanism to architecture. Remarkable is how the intelligent layout and dimensioning of a relatively simple system of water treatment resulted in a powerful urban landscape and provides a quasi natural limit to growth (treatment capacity = capacity of urbanisation).
The jury appreciated the consistent development of the concept throughout diverse scales (landscaping, urbanism, architecture, detailing public space) and issues (restructuring industrial site into a functional mixed self-sustaining environment based on the spatial validation of water treatment). Thorough research and sensitive implementation resulted in interesting landscape, urbanisation and building typologies.
This is an excellent search for an ‘ecology of urbanisation’ and genuine sustainability.

2006
situating zenne/vilvoorde The Zenne is a river of 103km long flowing through Brussels. The capacities of the zenne are heavily denied: the river is used as a sewer and has been polluted heavily, she plays a marginal role in the urban fabric.
history of vilvoorde. After Brussels the Zenne flows along factories and heavy industry until beyond Vilvoorde. How can the potentials of the Zenne been used to structure the space as a generator of a qualitative environment and a durable water system.
masterplan of Zennecity. addiction of new layer: grid as a carrier of the purification system. reorganisation taking into account existing and reinforced grids.
Design Elements of urban fabric: filling up rules, the place of canals and several typologies of buildings.
Design Elements of the icon buildings: study of forms, type of purifications, possible functions, sun protection,...
section over city: how is sewage water cleaned through the purification system. The water flows from east to west.
plans of icon building. A spiral is base of the design. Domestic sewage water flows in balconies filled with reed. Parkings on ground level and public area on top of the building. The apartments are lighted by two opposite sides. Directed East-West.
section/elevation of icon building. Inside the semi-public space as a walking spiral, at the outside the purification balconies.
purification system of the buildings. Water is purified through compact wetlands on balconies. Energy is token from a warmth pump system based on waterbassins on top of the building and the zenne as regulator of summer/winter regime.
view of in between spaces. The inside of the urban blocks is filled with a system of wetlands and watertanks. The in between spaces are for public use and form the grid of the masterplan.
view of the floodarea. The canal in opposite with the Zenne and the natural space build of wetsheds, greenspaces and flood area.
view of urban fabric. In order to connect several wetsheds and buffers, canals are made in open air.
aerial view of icon building. The circular building is the endpoint of an existing street. Layed over the Zenne, it connects the old urban fabric, the flood area and the Zenne.
icon building-urban fabric. The limited height of the icon building doesn't form a wall for the existing urban structure.
icon building-landscape. The Zenne underneath the building, walkways through the building. Maximum transparancy obtained by use of columns.
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