The city of Liége evolved during time, from a medieval village to an important city of Belgium. The studied block suffer different transformations and especially with the new urban plan, the layout of the city was transformed in order to accommodate main roads that will connect the river, in the city center, with a main national road. The continuity of the urban tissue is now cut by a network of roads, leaving the main user away from the streets.
STRATEGIES AND PLACES
Block 190
Urban analysis in Liege
The block studied has a mixture of functions and architectural styles that are part of the picturesque of the city. It does not follow a symmetry or order like the neighbor blocks, it is visible how the block was evolving and so buildings from different periods were built. When looking at the exterior façade the buildings seem to be autonomous without communicating between each other, other than being together in the same parcel.
With the fragmentation of the urban tissue, the alternative solution aimed to connect the block to its old block, located at the north of it. Moreover, following the principle of the high rise pathway, the connection with the Parc d’Avroy was important but without high rise buildings in the block the alternative was to open the block and create green areas which are connected with the surrounding blocks in order to make a coherent connection between them.
The current situation seems to block the pathway, does not invite the user to continue. As already mentioned, the opening of the block makes it the interaction stronger. The exterior façade is no longer a wall. The presented sequence is an overview of how will it be the connection with the Parc d’Avroy. The new pathway could interact with alterative solutions created in other blocks, in which high rise pathways were created through the buildings. The extension of the park and surrounding green areas continues with the picturesque of the city by creating hidden spaces in which every turn gives the user unexpected areas to interact with the city. Moreover, it creates at city in which the pedestrian is the main actor of the city, it is then connected to the idea of creating areas for the people and it some sense the car is below the block and does not interact at all with this historic part of the city.
Current
Building to be removed
Connections alternative
Alternative
Alternative
Current