Description

The masterplan for a new village center in Schuttrange was based on extensive research, consultations with local residents and thorough documentation of the existing situation. The competition we were part of in Luxembourg required the proposal of a new cultural center that would fit and connect to the urban tissue and the existing choreography of this masterplan, but also revitalize the area by bringing a new atmosphere and a new way of approaching the surroundings. Our main philosophy was to emphasize the profound interplay between the built environment and public spaces, creating a balanced relationship between architecture and environmental sustainability. We placed the new cultural building in a strategic way that would automatically help in creating three main public squares: 1.Place du Marche, 2.Place de l’Eglise, 3.Place Hannert Thommes, free of car traffic, designed for pedestrians that serve as meeting and connection points. The square in front of the market, Place du Marche, has a more open and functional character, free of street furniture making it more eligible to be used for market purposes and other events, while the square in front of the church, Place de l’Eglise, has a more intimate scale framed by green zones in a slope, planted with grass, block hedges, and characteristic red trees of the area creating this way a landscaped open space for gatherings and interconnection. And the third square, Place Hannert Thommes, has a more residential character, slightly elevated from the street providing a buffer and meeting point for the residents, enhancing this way the quality of the space and the harmonic communication with the other public spaces. The rue principal is transformed into a 30km/h zone covered meticulously from the special paving that is used for the public squares, as a wrapping mantle that connects the interacting areas, making the cars ‘guests’ in the pedestrian zone. Six new buildings are added in the plan area: an L-shaped residential building, the market hall, the cultural center, an extension to the town hall, the Scout Chalet and the cemetery walls with a mortuary. All buildings try to merge and adapt to the traditional style of the surroundings in line with the Luxembourgish architectural traditions, except for the cultural center which embodies a more contemporary style in combination with tones and materials that harmonize with the existing architecture. The soft rounded corners of the cultural center, connect the new squares in a supple way. Our aim is to make our design part of the urban tissue in the most natural way possible, without imposing its presence, and giving priority to the human circulation in the built environment