AgwA . architecten de vylder vinck taillieu
The competition brief mentioned a fairly large programme in an ambigious context. The question of implementing 8000 m² of cultural and sport programme in a context that is neither part of the centre of Waasmunster nor the countryside surrounding it arose the idea of an enclosed entity. ‘Munster’, derived from the Latin monasterium, not only refers to the impressing abbey by Dom Van Der Laan a few miles north of the site but, more importantly, mentions the notion of a place that is cut off and yet intertwined with its surroundings. A contextual isolation. We opt for a so-called perfect circle in which the program – a set of ordinary, industrial white boxes – is absorbed and at the same time mirrors the urban figure of the church and its immediate surroundings. The routes inside and outside the building interact with the three gardens that offers focal as well as structuring points in the ensemble. In this way, a typology that is too often trivially conceived and implemented suddenly becomes an complex set of possibilities. Continue reading AgwA . de vylder vinck taillieu
