ELYSIUM - A PUBLIC DESTINATION UNDERNEATH THE COURTHOUSE
Entry for the "Competition Brussels Courthouse, imagine the future"
-3rd price out of 160 contestants!- Together with collective City4 (Yan Shi, Jue Qiu, Linda Holvast) (www.city4.nl).
Read the complete project text
The Courthouse deserves today, more than ever, a new destiny. It has the appearance of a neglected monument, packed with a 20 years old scaffolding. Plants are growing on the monumental facade, regularly facade-components are falling down. The monument seems impossible to maintain, renovation costs are rising.
On the other hand, the Courthouse seems to be designed to maintain as a symbol of jurisdiction, that it is -not only for Brussels- but also for Belgium and all over the world. Inside, countless references are made to jurisdiction, the profession and the history. This within the shape of statues, decorations and paintings, but also in the layout and the division of the building. This is why, it is for us important to keep the Juridical function inside the Courthouse.
Next to that, the Courthouse has ever been, since its realisation in 1883, strategically positioned as a landmark on one of the seven hills of Brussels. However, the building is a massive and interrupting element in the structure of the city. Not only for car traffic, but especially for pedestrians and cyclists. This probematic situation found its origin by the total demolition of the housing quarter of the Marollen, the ‘Galgenberg’, to make room for the construction of the Courthouse. The abusive name for an architect in the Brussels dialect ‘Skieven Architek’, was given to the architect Joseph Poelaert. We could solve this problem, by opening up the bottom layer of the building, making it a public zone to climb up the hill from Miniemenstraat to Wolstraat, or from Wynantstraat to Poelaert Square. By blurring the borders, the massive block of the courthouse becomes an ‘invisible element’ within the structure of the city.
Elysium - the final resting place of the virtuous and the brave
This is our aim, to make the courthouse on the level of movement by strolling or meandering imperceptible, or maybe even insensible. This public layer we would like to call ‘Elysium’, as a reference to the underground place, which was in Roman mythology the final resting place of the virtuous and the brave. It becomes a combination of streets and squares, and is connected to a broad variety of shops, bars and other public facilities. The so-called streets with their arcades and ceilings, have the character of a Moorish Bazaar. Each courtyard or internal square has its own theme, based on the human six senses (hearing, taste, sight, smell, touch, unconsciousness). This theme can go together with the functional division of the shops that are connected to it. With our gesture, we give this area back to the people of Brussels, to whom it belonged long time ago. The surrounding area becomes a lively and positive public realm. The extra function cansolve another problem too. The current condition of the monument is rather bad, if not calamitous. It is uncertain if the Belgian Building Agency and the Federal Government have the financial capacity to guarantee a successful renovation. With other financers, that can make use of the building at the same time (like the public facilities), more cash flow can be generated, to ensure a possible renovation.
The public layer becomes a combination of streets and squares, and offers a diversity of different relations and sensations. We use the existing structure of the bottom layer of the Courthouse to arrange the corridors around the different courtyards and shops. The so-called streets with their arches and ceilings, have the character of a Moorish Bazaar.
The streets and squares are connected to a broad variety of shops, bars and other public facilities. A Bazaar like shopping experience is created. The shops are arranged according to specific themes.
We open up the atriums of the Courthouse, making them public accessible. Each courtyard or internal square has its own theme, based on the human six senses (hearing, taste, sight, smell, touch, unconsciousness). This theme goes together with the functional division of the shops that are connected to it. It gives a various program and also courtyards with a very distinct and divers character.
The direct surroundings of the Courthouse shows a remarkably defeciency of green. The platform, which is currently used for parking, can become an example of urban green, a combination of pavement and green banks. The Urban park is not only a terras for the neighboring shops and cafes, it forms also, together with the volumic base underneath, a intermediar zone, to mount the ‘hill’ via various atriums.
We want to keep the function of the building as a Courthouse, but not without modifications. All the tribunals and law courts of Brussels are housed into the building next to small offices for direct support. By intelligent clustering of highly public, collective and private spaces, the most optimal safety for burglary, escape and fire is guaranteed.
The competition text, additional to the winning proposal for the Brussels Courthouse Contest.
The competition for new ideas for the future of the Courthouse of Brussels, is organised right on time. The building deserves today, more than ever, a new destiny. It has currently the appearance of a neglected monument. Packed with a 20 years old scaffolding on the front side, the other sides clearly show signs of erosion and the deposit of exhaust gasses. Costs of restoration increase every month and preservation work can not be kept up. Regularly, sides of the building are fenced off for falling façade elements.
The monument seems impossible to maintain, questions rise about the enormous budget that is needed for a possible renovation.
However, the Courthouse has ever been, since its realisation in 1883, one of the most important buildings in the perception of the city. It is strategically positioned as a landmark on one of the seven hills of Brussels. From various places within the city, it functions as an element of recognition and orientation. From the square in front (Poelaertplein) one of the most impressive views on the city can be experienced.
But inescapably, the building is a massive, unavoidable and interrupting element in the structure of the city. Not only for car traffic, but especially for pedestrians and cyclists. Passengers have the only option to take the ‘public elevator’, if they don’t want to take the walk on the parking ramps next to the Miniemenstraat.
The building itself really functions as a physical border between two attractive parts of Brussels: the Marollen on the one side, Matongé and the shopping area of Louizalaan on the other.
Within the memory of Brussels, this specific problem has an origin. It is the symbol of the total demolition of a housing quarter of the Marollen, the ‘Galgenberg’, to make room for the Courthouse construction. The abusive name for an architect in the Brussels dialect ‘Skieven Architek’, found its origin in this project of the architect Joseph Poelaert.
The ‘Galgenberg’ that used to be a very dense, crowded and lively area, is now a vast and deserted area. The courthouse building is surrounded by an enormous amount of parking spaces. The Poelaert Square only functions as a traffic intersection, while an important building as the Courthouse could really benefit from an attractive square and vice versa.
Particularly the functional one-sidedness of the Courthouse itself and the surrounding buildings, is a reason for the poor functioning of the area. The imbalance creates a singular destination during the day that might appear rather lively, but becomes abandoned and ambiguous after 17h and during weekends. The surrounding area is, in a figural sense, screaming for an addition to the current local program.
On the other hand, the Courthouse building is the symbol of jurisdiction, not only for Brussels, but also for Belgium, and is famous all over the world. Inside, countless references are made to jurisdiction, the profession and the history. This within the shape of statues, decorations and paintings, but also in the layout and the division of the building. The Courthouse is designed to keep its predestined function, with the inherent symbolic value. It is a shame that most of the tribunals today are relocated in the adjacent buildings.
Proposal
Preservation of Courthouse as the main and representative function.
Because of the inherent symbolic value of the Courthouse building, it becomes almost impossible to find any other destination. No modern creation can convey the same message by its presence and posture, like the 19thcentury building can still do today.
Besides that, dealing with our cultural heritage, it is not only of value to preserve these monuments in the most respectful manner, but also important to expose and retain the concealed meaning and value. In their original form they refer, in the most optimal manner, to bygone days, to the rich history they have witnessed. Without the maintenance of its original purpose, the monument becomes a weak extract of what it used to be.
The Courthouse will in this way be appreciated by its current users – lawyers, magistrates, judges, the public, etc.., as it was originally intended. This is why we propose to maintain the Courthouse as the main and representative function of the building. However, we also propose to give it a distinct and determined function.
Administrative functions are very hard to be housed in historical buildings, demands of modern technologies and healthy working environments can not always be fulfilled. Also the storage of important documents that is housed in the building’s basement is not optimal, modern climatological products are needed.
Within the original layout of the Courthouse building, the different courtrooms are very present, yet not all of them are in use.
The evident proposal is to use the Courthouse building as the representation of jurisdiction and law, by locating all the tribunals and law courts into the building and only facilitate small offices for direct administrative support. The remaining office functions will be located in the surrounding buildings. This gives also the direct surrounding area the definition of a so-called ‘Justice Campus’, as it is right now and as it is meant to be.
Linking urban network around the Courthouse
There are several ways of moving through a city. You can move very determined from point A to B, taking the fastest route possible. But you can also move by following the structure of the city, meandering through the network of streets, alleys and squares, as if you were blind. Probably the second one is best experienced in the streets of the Marollen, or maybe the small streets around the ‘Grand place’ of Brussels. At the beginning of the 19thcentury, we could continue our ‘promenade’ towards the top of the ´Galgenberg´. Today we hit the blind wall of the Courthouse’s base.
The large Courthouse building can because of its size and composition be considered as one large building block, but in reality it is obstructive for the movement through the city. Because of its closeness, exceptional dimensions and position on top of the hill. If we would open up the bottom layer of the building, making it a public zone, a ford that can be waded through and forms a‘transportation hub’, we can climb up the hill, from the Miniemenstraat to the Wolstraat, or from the Wynantstraat to the Poelaert Square.
By means of blurring the borders, the massive block of the courthouse becomes an ‘invisible element’ within the structure of the city. It is our aim, to make the courthouse on the level of movement imperceptible, or maybe eveninsensible, while strolling or meandering.
An extra addition has to be made, at the Poelaert square. By an enclosing structure, a contemporary interpretation of an arcade, people are guided into the side entrances, on both protruding wings on the front. An open market is held underneath this arcade, generating public activity. Also the structure encompasses the new Poelaert Square, which is a more intimate place, addressed to the Courthouse building.
Transformation of the Bottom layer
The bottom layer or basement of the Courthouse is currently used as a basement, mainly for storage of juridical elements, but is actually positioned at ground level. The main hall, the ´Salle des Pas Perdus´ starts at the first floor. By opening up this bottom layer and offering several possibilities to mount the hill, inside and outside, it is connected to the urban network of Brussels, making a fluent connection between the Marollen district and the Louizalaan + Boulevard de Waterloo possible. Simultaneously, we include the large parking platform into our proposal, as it becomes an ´urban park´, a terrace of our new public layer.
This public layer becomes a combination of streets and squares, and is connected to a broad variety of shops, bars and other public facilities. We open up the atriums of the Courthouse, making them public accessible. The so-called streets with their arches and ceilings have the character of a Moorish Bazaar. A sequence of arcade-like streets and internal courtyards offers a diversity of different relations and sensations.
Each courtyard or internal square has its own theme, based on the human six senses (hearing, taste, sight, smell, touch, unconsciousness). This theme goes together with the functional division of the surrounding shops. It gives a various program and also courtyards with a very distinct and divers character.
We like to call this public layer ‘Elysium’, as a reference to the underground place, which was in Roman mythology the final resting place of the virtuous and the brave.
Additional value
Last but not least, with our gesture, we give this area back to the citizens of Brussels, to whom it has belonged long time ago. The Courthouse building is not the dominating, oppressive building any more, that influences the functioning of a broad surrounding area. People can easily mount the hill, using the public facilities of the Elysium.
Meanwhile, the two different functions are clearly separated from each other. A physical border is made around the edges, the only relation between the two worlds that is possible, can be interpreted by the sensation on the ‘Ponti dei Sospiri’ (bridge of sights) in Venice, where the criminals could have a last glimpse on the wealthy world, before they would undergo their punishment. In a similar way, the users of the Courthouse can have a look on the public life, happening in the Elysium underneath.
The extra function has the potential to solve another problem. The current condition of the monument is - as described in the introduction – very bad, if not calamitous. It is uncertain if the Belgian Building Agency and the Federal Government have the financial capacity to guarantee a successful renovation. It is more interesting to find other financers, parties that can make use of the building at the same time. The addition of the extra layer underneath can generate more cash flow, to ensure the financing of (for example) the exterior parts and even the façade.
Result (a possible scenario on 16th of November 2020)
Tom is walking through the narrow Streets of the ‘Marollen. He has a date with a friend. They are meeting in the ‘Elysium’, the commercial centre underneath the Courthouse. He just visited the ‘Fleemarket’ on the ‘Vossplein’ and can already see the dome of the Courthouse, towering high above the houses he passes. Within a minute he will arrive at the ‘downtown’ entrance in the Miniemenstraat, where he can take the grand staircase towards the top floor with largest amount of shops.
Ingrid walks out of the front entrance of the ‘Museum of Fine Arts’, where she has visited a exhibition on James Ensor. She walks by the ‘Regentschapstraat’ towards the Courthouse. Arrived at the Poelaertsquare, she first passes by the open market underneath the ‘Arcade’ to first buy two pounds of strawberries. Meanwhile, she glances quickly at the monumental façade of the courthouse, which is since the beginning of this year completely restored and back in its old glory. She admires the intangible beauty of the building for a moment, and continues her walk towards the side entrance of the ‘Elysium’.
At the same time, advocate Jef Vermassen is dropped of by its driver, in front of the central entrance of the courthouse. While he tries avoid the group of journalists that try to follow him, he climbs up the stairs towards the majestic bronze entrance door. Arrived in the ‘Salle des Pas Perdus’, he walks towards his client, who is sitting next to one of the ‘waiting-tables’ on the side. They still have some time before the court session starts, so they start strolling quietly towards the courtroom, while chatting.
The ‘Elysium’ is crowded, this Saturday afternoon. The different shops really turned out to be a great success, since the opening two years ago. Tom learned in his history class at the university that the whole area of the Courthouse actually used to be a residential area, like the neighbouring Marollen. The people who lived there, just lost their house, as it was purchased by the government. Architect or better Architek, from that moment on, became a term of abuse in Brussels, instead of a name of a respectful profession. Tom thought it was a good thing, that the bottom layer of the courthouse became an active, public area. The former residential area is actually reclaimed by the people. All people are welcome here, black or white, inhabitant or tourist, Flemish or Walloon, … It doesn’t make any difference.
Ingrid was first an opponent of the newest destination of the courthouse. How could it be possible to go shopping underneath a Courthouse. But her first visit immediately changed her opinion. The Corridors with arcades and the shops beside, are much like the Bazaar she visited in Cairo two years ago. The different courtyards are always lively, with bars that have terraces like in the “Galleries St.-Hubert and artists playing music. Walking besides the different shops, she has the intension to enter the shop, with all those nice clothes that are displayed. But she knows she has to hurry, because she has a date with Tom, in the Jazz bar, next to the Hearing courtyard.
Tom and Ingrid arrive simultaneously at the courtyard. Outside on the square, some musicians are performing. Many visitors come to a stop to listen to the nice sounds. They decide to sit at a table outside, so they can also listen to the music while drinking a beer. Tom and Ingrid notice that the courtyard is not the only lively space around them. When they look up, they can see the judges, the defendants and maybe also the criminals walking along the corridors of the Courthouse.
Jef Vermassen and his client continue their walk on the large staircases and corridors of the ‘Salle des Pas Perdus’. When passing by the windows orientated to the courtyards, Jef Vermassen glances at the internal courtyard, with lots of activity happening. He admits that at the first moment, he found it a strange combination, a Courthouse and a shopping centre inside the same building. But when he saw how the profits of the commercial function were used to renovate the monumental building, his opinion was already changing. Also the security of the Courthouse has improved, whether or not this sounds contradictory. The combination of the strict secure borders and the daily activity happening, criminals are less likely to escape, nor do burglars try to break into the courthouse like they did some years ago.
Before entering the courtyard, he casts one last time his eyes upon the courtyard.
For a blitz second, Jef Vermassen’s and Ingrid’s eyes meet.
Philip Mannaerts
