An Integrated Design for Liedts Square, Brussels

In this paper I discuss how I attempted to integrate acoustics/ urban sound design into an urban project (master dissertation) with both a temporary and permanent nature. The project deals with both the construction period and the permanent finished state of a metro station and square in Schaerbeek, Brussels. The innovative part of this project is to shift the planning paradigm of large urban infrastructure projects such the metro project line 3 in Brussels. Instead of designing exclusively for the final stage of the project (completion of metro station and square in 2030) I attempt to bring urban quality to the construction phases of the project. I do this with a multi-disciplinary approach that involves assessing the sonic conditions in each phase. These sonic conditions sometimes govern spatial conditions due to their nature. The goal of this paper is to show how sound design and acoustics were integrated and assess the validity of such a strategy. Lastly, in a small discussion section of this paper I evaluate my own strategy in relationship to what I learned as an architecture student over the years.