soil and the void — Vaclav Heginger

Soil and the Void

concept
The city as a never finished entity is in constant flux. It is developed and re-developed continuously throughout its existence. Infrastructural earthworks have a huge impact on the urban structure and processes. Materials extracted from underneath come in huge quantities. Thus the city can be perceived as an urban mine, an unlimited source of material. Digging up, storing it, transporting, reusing. This project explores the possible use and re-use of residual soil in the urban context. Extracting the soil from below, making it visible and thus raising the awareness about the consequences of our actions. For this purpose I chose a project of a new metro line in Brussels. This infrastructure project generates huge quantities of soil.

route of new metro line on the north of Brussels

section through the geological layers depicting the tunnel and metro stations

the amount of soil visualized through heaps (angle of repose is 40°)

relationship of metro tunnel, site and the material depicted in a section

site plan of the heap intervention

speculative scenario in which all the material from the metro (tunnel+stations) is piled up on one place

visualisation of the material to be extracted during the Metro3 construction

project
Using a bit of earth I propose to make an intervention at rue d’Aerschot. Forgotten void in an urban block has the potential to bring a new quality to the local community. The close relation of the void and the metro construction site allows the transportation to be done in a fast and easy way. The intervention itself consists mainly of bringing the material on the site. Filling up the void. One truck as a measuring unit, the void is slowly filled with piles of earth. New third landscape type of space emerged in the city. Life finds a way, so will the plants on the site.

the empty site and the context around

Ipsum...

panoramatic view of the void

site plan of the current conditions, line represents the path of the first site visit in February 2023

side walls of the neighbouring buildings in 2019

raw soil stored on the site creating a landscape full of heaps

site plan of the void

layout of the soil heaps, the project estimation counts with 90 heaps of soil

soil heap and the rammed earth wall, main elements used in the project

view from the back of the garden, the piled up soil turned green thanks to the act of ecological succession

the void as seen from the street, now filled with heaps and wall