This project relates to the small Belgian town of Beringen and breaks down into several components: a spatial masterplan for Beringen, a dwelling type (LM200) and an update for the existing Freinet school 1 (FS1).

The structure of Beringen is that of a collage of fragments. To this I have added a new pattern by grafting onto the edges of the existing patterns three identical linear blocks. Their density, compactness and positions refer to the old core, to linear growth and to the typical Hilbersheimer suburb characteristic of every present-day urban periphery. Shaping the basis of the chosen pattern is the early-modern wish for a single composition and a single dwelling type for the existenzminimum LM200.

The housing blocks are isolated by the lack of new infrastructure or a common ground. Each nomad can appropriate a space of their own within this open structure. This way, the ribbon structure is compacted further and a large proportion of the open space retained. The hardness and anonymity of the LM200 units, stitched together as they are into a motel, further exacerbates the tension of the Hopperian space and fragments the ribbon into a necklace of Las Vegas hotels.

In upgrading and updating the existing school building FS1 and residential unit LM200, I have resorted to the technique of collage. In addition, I have deployed current associations with the aim of realizing, with a minimum of means and materials, a neutral, ambiguous type in which everyone can work, live and learn, with a strong identity for user and object alike. Ironically, however, the structure and materiality of the objects render them unstable, making us aware of the continuity, flexibility, temporality and fragility of man and his constructed space.

Place of education: AvB Maastricht
Specialization: architecture
Tutors: Fred Humblé, Koen Drossaert & Jo Berben