The Rampart, The Traffic Artery, and the Park; Designing for the city regions of Antwerp

Palimpsest
Palimpsest
Palimpsest
Main access roads and grid
Main access roads and grid
Main access roads and grid
Leftover structures on Linkeroever
The adjacent drawing shows the ring and other defining structures in Linkeroever.
We see several palimpsest-like structure in the landscape of Linkeroever,
the most prominent being the leftover grid of Camp Tophat; also visible in the
Sint Anna forest of the previous drawing. This camp was used by the US forces
during repatriation after World War 2. The camp hosted several recreational
activities like movie theatres, men’s clubs, and an ice-cream bar. Camp
Tophat also extended some distance into Middenvijver, and along the Charles
de Costerlaan (then the Tunnellaan) to the east, to the section connecting to
the Blancefloerlaan (Mundi, n.d.). This also leads us to the second palimpsest
structure; the diagonal section of the Tunnellaan connecting to the Blancefloerlaan
at the border of Zwijndrecht. The section until the highway is still in use as
access road to the sports amenities there, the section at the end of the Charles
de Costerlaan has been removed. With the disconnection of the Charles de
Costerlaan, a reconnection to its historic counterpart might be a fitting end for
the boulevard. The third structure is the historic dyke structure which has now
been petrified in the morphology of Zwijndrecht, Burcht, and the industrial
area. Coming to the final structure; the visual axis to the cathedral still holds
an important position in the urban fabric, and can be viewed all the way from
Zwijndrecht.
For the remaining structures, we find that Linkeroever is an extensive
grid structure that is partially the result of subsequent developments. This is the
case for both primary access roads; the Blancefloerlaan – the first chaussee
Visual axis to the Cathedral
Visual axis to the Cathedral
Visual axis to the Cathedral
Figure 4.13
Drawing of the (leftover) structures of
Linkeroever (Google, 2020).
Figure 4.14
Old map of Camp Tophat (Willaert,
2014).
209