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

Figure 2.0 - Previous spread
Aerial photograph of Antwerp and its
metropolitan region (Google, 2020).
to be more resilient (Kaufmann & Kaufmann, 2014, pp. 207-208).
With Antwerp definitively appointed as National Redoubt by law in
1959, construction started on its three components: (1) a new larger rampart
to replace the Spaanse Omwalling, (2) fortification belts, and (3) inundation
areas. Antwerp was Belgium’s official redoubt from roughly the 1850s till the
end of the First World War, with a short reprise of the role during the Second
World war (Verboven, 2018a). Although the total design was never a military
success, many of its components have survived and are now important cultural,
historical, architectural, and ecological relics (Busschots, 2014).
This chapter will explore the design and working of the historic
Redoubt system and trace its heritage to present-day Antwerp in relation to
function, ecology, morphology, accessibility, and economy. The chapter will
conclude with a strategic spatial plan that uses the interaction between the
set – the rampart, the traffic artery, and the park – to give spatial direction and
definition to the metropolitan region.
The National Redoubt
After a half-hearted attempt from 1850 till 1858 to create a fortress with the
existing Spaanse Omwalling and several small forts some distance from the
city; 1859 marked a turning point with the city’s definitive appointment as
National Redoubt. This meant easier access to funding which allowed Antwerp
to rapidly build its defensive network. The plan consisted out of three parts: the
Grote Omwalling, several fortification belts, and inundation areas.
19.
Henri Alexis Brialmont (1821-1903)
was a major general and inspector
general of fortifications (The Editors
of Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2020).
Contrary to popular belief, Brialmont
did not design the fortification belts
himself, that was the work of the inspector
general of the genie Deannoy.
Brialmont did however, in his capacity
as member of the minister of war’s cabinet,
make some adjustments to the
original designs when the forts were
being built (Verboven, 2018a).
The Grote Omwalling built between 1859 and 1865 was meant to replace
the Spaanse Omwalling and the smaller forts, and give a very dense city some
much needed expansion space. The Omwalling increase the city’s surface
area by a factor of five, from 330 ha to 1630 ha, and enclosed several
neighbouring villages like Borgerhout and Berchem, and parts of the harbour
(Verboven, 2018b).
At the same time, construction started on the inner fortification belt
to keep the city safe from long-range artillery; a belt popularly called the
Brialmont Fortification belt, after Henri Alexis Brialmont. 19 A total of eight
forts – called fort 1 through 8 – were built at roughly 4 kilometres from the
ramparts, spaced at intervals of 2 kilometres from each other. This assured that
the forts could take the area behind, and between them under fire. The north
side of the city initially was not reinforced by forts, because the region could
be defended with the inundation areas. Between 1871 and 1882, however,
Fort Merxem was built to defend the plateau between the inundation area on
the north side of the city and the area next to the canal. The forts, except Fort
Merxem, were accessible via a paved road called the Krijgsbaan, and some
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