VALERIA BALLERIN, VINCENZO PATERNO

THE TRIANGLE PROJECT

A DIACHRONYC READING

ACCADEMIA DI ARCHITETTURA - PROF. PAOLO GIORDANO CORSO METODI QUANTITATIVI PER LANALISI DEL TERRITORIO 2011/2012

INTRODUCTION

The atelier whose project we are focusing for this analisys worked in a collective effort do devolop a urban project in the area of Anderlecht, an area in southwest Brussels. The area, roughly in shape of a triangle, is a former industrial district along the Brussels Canal and is surrounded by densely populated streets, inhabited mainly by foreings. An important building lies in the center, the former Abbatoir now the biggest food market in Brussels, both retail and wholesale. The original 19th century structure has been surrounded during the decades by many wharehouses and use large gated areas for parking and temporary market. This is peculiar of the whole Triangle, both from human scale and plan is felt as a big unaccessible void. The aim of the atelier was infact to liberate this space and donate it to the surrounding city enriched by new services and reshaped in a more open way. This was done with a work of selective demolition and a redesign of the edges, leaving the center void for public activities.

MOBILITY

EXISTING SITUATION

EXISTING PUBLIC SPACES

VISUAL INTEGRATION
ACTUAL SITUATION

STATIONS PUBLIC BUILDINGS

VISUAL INTEGRATION
SITUATION AFTER PROJECT

STATIONS PUBLIC BUILDINGS

EXCLUSION BEFORE

view of the area of the market warehouses

access of the markets area from the Canal

view from top of the site

access to the markets area from the underground station

PERMEABILTY AFTER

public transit through a green passage

public transit through passages in a buildt limit

Bird eye view of the Triangle after the intervention on edges and core

public transit through light architectural devices

VISUAL INTEGRATION BEFORE CENTER-WEST BRUSSELS

VISUAL INTEGRATION AFTER CENTER-WEST BRUSSELS

VISUAL INTEGRATION PROJECT AREA

VISUAL INTEGRATION A COMPARISON BEFORE AND AFTER THE PROJECT

VISUAL INTEGRATION A COMPARISON BEFORE AND AFTER THE PROJECT

VISUAL INTEGRATION RELEVANT DATAS

Center-west Brusssels - Vsual integration average value without project - Vsual integration average value with project - Relative Variation range Project Area

2.97 3.19 199.9

- Vsual integration average value without project - Vsual integration average value with project - Relative Variation range

3.10 3.35 172.41

CONSIDERATIONS

After the analisys with DepthMap we tested the design aim of the atelier, and both data and maps suggested us that was successful. The comparision of the maps shows how the surrounding urban fabric is infulenced by the project, and what kind of integration we find in the developed area. The crossing analisys of the parameters of Visual Integration shows how the grows of integration at the city scale seems to be significant being on a average value of 0.22 from 2.97 to 3.19. On a smaller scale, using the smallest rectangle around the site the grows value is 0.25 from 3.10 to 3.35. The average as a parameter was verified with the standard deviation variation, that shows a very limited variation on a basic standard deviation always less of 1. On the design side the area that were chosen to accomodate transport facilities proved to be mainly the most integrated, together with the void that assume a relevant position on the urban scale. As a futher consideration is that the southern part of the area was less modified in his urban fabric but just at an architectonic scale, and for this reason the integration is almost unchanged.