Melaan - 5a Biennal 2008

landschapsarchitecten bv OKRA

Water and Mechelen are inextricably bound up together. The water network of the Dijle river and its tributaries covers the entire city. The Dijle was originally three times wider than it is now, and had various arms and tributaries, which have disappeared through silting up, or have narrowed into small streams alongside the places where streets and houses were built. The streams, such as the Melaan, were originally used for water transport, as drains and for washing. Most of the streams were arched over, because they were seen as breeding grounds of disease. The Melaan was filled in, to make space for cars and parking places and for hygienic reasons.After more than a century, the embankments of the Melaan stream are now being uncovered once more. Because of the filling in of the stream in the Melaan, the logical layout of this area of Mechelen disappeared. It is no longer clear why the profile is so wide. Why do many of the buildings stand with the blank walls of their rears towards the street? The logic of the location is no longer there.By bringing back water into the profile of the Melaan, this place is given back its logic, and has become attractive and liveable once more. The Melaan forms once again a part of the historic core fabric of the city. Water has become the catalyst of this urban development. Multiple aims are served. The integral approach is of vital importance here: archaeology, the plan for school transport on the Melaan, mobility in general, a tourist taxis between Lamot and St. Rombout’s cathedral and the renewed city centre all form essential aspects of the development.

Autors

OKRA landschapsarchitecten bv

Detalls del projecte

Tipologia Espai fluvial
Promotor City of Mechelen
Localització Mechelen, Mechelen, Bèlgica
Àrea 25000 m²
Cost 100 €/m²
Any inici 2005
Any finalització 2006