Location: Liège, Belgium
Date: 2021-
Programme: Civic space and Office
Client: Les Biens Communaux
Status: Ongoing
Area: 200 m²
Team: Traumnovelle (architects)
Carbonifère (landscape architects)
Spolia, or re-employment, refers to the reuse, particularly in the late Roman Empire, of parts and works of art from earlier Roman monuments as building materials for a new monument.
The project to create a community garden and civic space in a hollow space in the rue de la Porte aux oies in Liège, a street located in the dense urban fabric of the Outre meuse area, was developed and promoted by local residents through the Les biens communaux cooperative. The initiative stemmed from the residents' attachment to the site and the biodiversity it supports, with the aim of providing a friendly space in which to exchange ideas, meet people and help each other.
What is a common place?
How do we define these collective places? What do we find there? What should people be able to do there? How can we organise the sharing of space and the uses to which it is put? All these questions come back to the question of "how do we form a society?", i.e. what are our shared values, and how do we articulate them in order to live together? In medieval times, particularly in the United Kingdom, "commons" were vegetable gardens and festive areas administered and used by the village community. Dismantled in the 19th century under the pressure of capitalism and on the pretext of a community's inherent inability to manage a resource sustainably without over-exploitation, the notion of collective management has nevertheless proved its worth.
Today, interest in these spaces and these management methods is resurfacing. In particular, they are seen as a means of fighting feminist, anti-class and ecological battles. In the age of global warming, wouldn't it be appropriate to consider all natural resources as a "common" to be preserved together?
Encouraging economy of means
A minimum footprint for maximum impact ! The construction sector is the most polluting sector in Belgium in terms of carbon emissions. That's why we're looking for rationality in construction and good taste in the use of resources and the choice of materials, as well as in the way they are used. It is also a question of capitalising on what already exists, in other words identifying the strengths of the existing construction and of the site itself. The circularity of materials is also a topical issue, which means ensuring that this project is placed in its wider physical, economic, social and landscape context, in Liège and the Mosan region, and learning about the materials and techniques that make sense in this area. This rationality is not to the detriment of the spatial quality or narrative richness of the site - quite the contrary! It's a design driver that generates inventiveness and surprises, making it a joy rather than a constraint.
The site is not a time out
In view of the commitment and enthusiasm shown by local residents and associations, is it possible to imagine a worksite that is not a sacrificial moment, where the site is closed and community activities have to take place "elsewhere", "in the meantime"? But rather a collaborative project where everyone is involved? A transparent worksite, open to the public, that allows the Jardin to begin building its societal role in addition to its premises? In complete safety, of course, can we involve different stakeholders in the construction of this place that is destined for them? We'd like to explore this possibility with the project owner, and think together about how the Jardin de la Porte des Oies can come into being, already, and be built in everyone's imagination as the project progresses. Because the place itself is just as important as how it is dreamed of and told.
