The Rampart, The Traffic Artery, and the Park; Designing for the city regions of Antwerp
Through a close reading of Antwerp’s current spatial and socio-economic composition, and the introduction of the interplay between the city’s three defining paradigms – abstracted to ‘The Rampart, the Traffic Artery, and the Park’ – this study tries to sketch a unifying strategy for Antwerp’s metropole. A strategy that embeds residential, economic, cultural, recreational, climatic, and historical motives within the different city regions. Thereby improving the connection between the left and right side of the river; transitioning the suburban region to a more polycentric structure while maintaining a spatial relation to the city; and explicitly manages the horizontal growth of the periphery. But that most importantly, captures the metropole in a single narrative from its inner-city to its outer edges. Graduation thesis prepared for the master’s degree in urban design at the Eindhoven University of Technology.
Through a close reading of Antwerp’s current spatial and socio-economic composition, and the introduction of the interplay between the city’s three defining paradigms – abstracted to ‘The Rampart, the Traffic Artery, and the Park’ – this study tries to sketch a unifying strategy for Antwerp’s metropole. A strategy that embeds residential, economic, cultural, recreational, climatic, and historical motives within the different city regions. Thereby improving the connection between the left and right side of the river; transitioning the suburban region to a more polycentric structure while maintaining a spatial relation to the city; and explicitly manages the horizontal growth of the periphery. But that most importantly, captures the metropole in a single narrative from its inner-city to its outer edges.
Graduation thesis prepared for the master’s degree in urban design at the Eindhoven University of Technology.
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The left bank
The previous spreads show the more detailed urban plan for Linkeroever as
part of the inner-city of Antwerp, and the edges of Zwijndrecht and Burcht facing
the inundation area. The following pages will elaborate on the structures
that underlie the plan for Linkeroever, and the basic components of the plan
for Zwijndrecht and Burcht.
Zwijndrecht and Burcht
Zwijndrecht and Burcht are morphologically and typologically quite different
from the suburbs on the right bank of the Scheldt. In the latter you mainly find
closed (radial or orthogonal) building blocks with row houses or apartment
complexes. Zwijndrecht and Burcht are more rural. Meaning that there are a
lot of semi-detached or free-standing dwellings. But also, that the block configuration
is much more organic; the linear development of these two villages
is still very much visible.
In the planned transition to becoming part of the suburban region on
the left bank of the Scheldt, and part of the ring zone, these villages will receive
a more urban edge. To achieve this the current edge of Zwijndrecht and
Burcht is shifted to the east somewhat to create a typological and morphological
transition from the current free-standing and semi-detached dwellings to
row houses and higher apartment buildings, to give the border a more urban
feel. This will not create an edge similar to the one of the suburbs on the right
side of the river, but that does not necessarily need to happen; their position in
more rural landscape, at the other side of the ecological zone of the ring park
and the Scheldt, allow these villages to maintain a less urbanised appearance.
For the position of the urban edge, the historic structure of the dyke of the
Borgerweertpolder is picked-up. This structure will be petrified in the urban
edge and the suburban ring boulevard running along it. This structure will
also define the long-term development plan of the industrial area to the north
of Zwijndrecht. While extending towards this edge and transition, the same
contextual method as was used on the right side, was employed; existing lines
in the (agricultural) landscape were used to expand Zwijndrecht and Burcht.
The capped highway to the north and south of Zwijndrecht is used as green
radials, and as limiting aspects to the expansion of the suburban region on the
left bank.
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