GARDEN CANOPY
Construction of a green canopy and two roof gardens for the Ancienne Belgique concert hall.Team ︎︎︎ ALTSTADT icw Denkbar, Kollektif Landscape
Phase ︎︎︎ Building permit
Surface ︎︎︎ 70m²
Budget ︎︎︎ 200.000€
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The Ancienne Belgique is Belgium’s most renowned concert hall for alternative music, and one of Flanders seven main cultural institutions. However, its external presence on the central Boulevard Anspach is very modest, if not anonymous. Hidden behind two neoclassical elevations, it lacks a formal entrance and a extravert, welcoming “face” to its rich inner life.
When ALTSTADT, in collaboration with Kollektif Landscape, was asked to design a green façade for the institute, the initial suggestion for a typical living wall as a cosmetic green layer on the sandstone façade, was quickly dismissed, for a number of reasons. Instead, we proposed an actual garden, rooted in a large earth basin, hanging from the façade. This hanging garden doubles as a canopy, welcoming the daily crowds, as well as a billboard, communicating its programme through light installations.
The canopy consists of a galvanized steel containes, attached to the corniche of the current bluestone entrance portal, and support by a series of cables. The underside is finished by a continuous surface in standard metal grills, which extend from the edges of the garden containers and form a translucent edge, blurring the boundaries of the canopy and leaving the original facades visible. The grill also functions as a theater ceiling, and allows for the attachment of various equipments, such as spots, speakers, led-scrollers, disco balls, etc… Thus, the covered place underneath becomes potentially an extension of the inside stage, its atmosphere adaptable to the events of the day.
