ANEMOCHORY

A design is proposed adjacent to a traveling theatre on the Friche Josaphat in Brussels, an abandoned marshaling yard. Moved to an urban wasteland by the city, the traveling theatre group find themselves neighbours with a fragile but thriving wildlife. The aim of the project was to provide a modern ruin that would both protect the precious green space of the Friche Josaphat and the delicate and ephemeral Nouveaux Disparus traveling theatre group.

An urban ensemble is proposed, arranged around a central public square. Two apartment buildings look onto the busy street and house a public plinth, with artist residences above. The third, main building, houses a theatre school with a multifunctional and open performance space offering flexibility in stage and spectator space, as well as a large opening onto the landscape of the friche. The ensemble aims to establish a dialogue with the neighbouring Nouveaux Disparus traveling theatre group, as well as negotiate the delicate thresholds between urban and wild in a series of steps from street to garden. The heavy load-bearing marble facade of the theatre volume establishes a permanent ruin at the entrance of the friche, protecting the site’s unique and monumental natural value.

Alongside a design project, the site was researched through the medium of a short documentary. The the process of film making, the relationship between the Nouveaux Disparus and the wildlife that surrounds them on the Friche Josaphat could be further explored. Over the course of several months, several theatre shows attended, interviews made, and wildlife filmed, eventually building up to a 10 minute film also named Anemochory. This process informed the design from several angles, including a realisation of the unique nature of the Friche Josaphat as a hidden space in the city, leading to the introduction of a garden wall in the urban plan. The film also allowed for a better connection between the new and the existing, thanks to the dialogue formed with the traveling theatre group.