Following the previous public space project led in 1999 in 4 social housing neighborhoods (Terrains de foot à Ottignies), Bauloy’s inhabitants gathered yet again in order to determine the possible issues for a new ‘urban furniture’ project. They are being supported by different groups of people, notably the association called “Quartier du Bauloy, Quartier de vie” , the Youth Services of the town and l’Escaut Architecture. As done in the previous work, this project is, for every step, related to a co-working process and comes with a learning approach and a social transformation.

A fountain.

The word is thrown. It sets off many discussions in which history, fairy tales, anecdotes, recurrent problems and lacks are mixed up together. And through all this everyone‘s own desires appear. The theme, water, slowly finds its place. From images to words, from words to images or texts:
“[…] The River gently slopes, for the water to slowly flow down into a trickle in which kids can lap their hands […]. At night time, as soon as the sun becomes insufficient, the pumps stop, the hoses empty themselves and then the river flow stops. As soon as the sun rises and shines again, the pumps start working and the river flows once again before the kids incoming.”
Jean-Pierre LEBON

Several workshops about water awareness are organized and finally turned into exhibitions. Consultation’s meetings take over from all this material. The position of the site is chosen by children for a neighboring school: it is a former playground situated along a newly pedestrian street that divides a housing estate. Right next to it, the red and white nets and benches built in 1999 reflect a scaled thought. It is anchored in this very place like sediment from a complex environment.
The new project follows this approach. In a simple, handy and kind of funny way, it shall structure a large open space while connecting it to inhabitant’s flows. The vertical elements of the fountain create a visual link in-between ‘le clos du Grand Feu’ et ‘le clos Marie Doudouye’ , while the change of the floor’s material, a slope covered with pebbles, is inviting passers-by to stop.

A journey.

From this moment on, the fountain is not an object anymore. It’s a new step within the neighborhood and a run that every user can re-invent. The catchment basin position on the sidewalk provokes changes to the everyday habits: the sidewalk and the street get to the stage of mixing up. The elements making up the catchment basin are placed like a water machine that has been taken apart piece by piece: controlled from the feet pumps, the water gushes out from vertical elements and then, led by horizontal elements, it bounces, movement produces sound, makes the wood, the mosaic and the pebbles vibrate, until it meets a trickle of water that crosses the site down to ‘le clos Marie Doudouye’. The water machine resonate through the gestures it inspires: press the feet pumps, climb on one side or another, play with the water that flows in-between pebbles. This structure takes on the meaning its users give it:

bench,
playground,
information point,
and exhibition point

thanks to luminous panels integrated into the vertical elements.

Time for action.

The building part of the project is based on inhabitants and neighboring companies and schools, each partner stepping into the project in a particular manner.

The foreseen materials are chosen for the ease of their uses and their availabilities. The pebbles on the floor, the mosaic on the vertical elements could possibly be taken and placed by groups of inhabitants; the pattern of it would follow children’s drawings previously made during workshops.
The most sizeable part of the work, like masonry or wood cutting, could be done by the youth, while technical parts could be operated by the local authority. The design and execution of peculiar objects, particularly feet pumps, would be given to students in technology design.

The complexity resulting from the co-working process is reduced thanks to the spread of building into three different periods of time:

- phase 1

spring 2008 :

The water and electricity joining, the pose of the water circuit and the two low walls framing the site will be managed by the local authority. The first vertical element construction will be controlled by l’Escaut Architecture, while the integrating on the site will be followed by every partner. The inhabitants will then be able to fix the mosaic.

-phase 2

summer 2008 :

This phase will be part of ‘les Chantiers d’Eté' . The local authority shall previously position the water circuit. The workshops could work on the ground uneven while integrating the feet pumps and then fix the pebbles. They will also manage the assembling of the bench and the second vertical element.

-phase 3

spring 2009 :

This phase principally includes the pose of the water trickle and the assembling of the bench and the third vertical element. It could be entirely managed by groups of inhabitants and the Youth Services of the town.