Bxl L28 West

Anno 2021 Weststation’s entrance is nothing more than a tightly spaced esplanade. In stark contrast stand are the insufficiently utilized infrastructure spaces of the railway station. To reach the train tracks travelers have to go down two floors. The railway platforms are invisible and not integrated into the whole. In the future, here will be a second entry on the north side of the building. The aim of this reverse move is to bring the focus on the main hall, which is little used today, and to create the possibility of permanent public flows along the tracks. Brussels Region envisages the development of a public esplanade to reinforce the metropolitan character of Weststation.

Recording (2018) - Brooklyn, NYC

Escaping via the opening from the underground subway infrastructure situated in between the railway platforms and a first series of social housing blocks, sounds of arriving and departing trains loudly occupy the area around west station. The concrete wall of high-rise buildings bounces back the crackling and tearing sounds of these motorized beaters to area surrounding the railway platforms. Vibrations coming from the underground subway infrastructure travel upwards through the metal structures of these platforms above ground. De vacant land keeps traffic sounds coming from Vandenpeerenboom Street at a distant drawing attention to smaller sounds that would otherwise slip unnoticed in the chorus of the traffic buzz. Sirens contour sonically the open space around the west station. Helicopters flying over, taking control of the open railway space volumetrically. The presence of animals and vegetation in undeveloped areas adds fluidly shifting patterns with huge masses of pointillistic sound to the urban sound space of this area. With rain or storms, these textures take on a more intense dominant position here.

Recording (2016) : on site

New community and sports center near West Station. The construction of the new center is part of the program of the Sustainable Neighborhood Contract "Rondom Westpark", which also includes

The temporary project "MolenWest" is located on the other side of the tracks.

Recording (2016) : On site

New community and sports center near West Station. The construction of the new center is part of the program of the Sustainable Neighborhood Contract "Rondom Westpark", which also includes

The temporary project "MolenWest" is located on the other side of the tracks.

Recording (2016) : On site

In addition to the expansion of railroad tracks, Infrabel developed the ‘Infrabel academy’ project on a plot between the railroad, the Delhaize halls, and the garages of the social housing. The project includes an extension of the Dubois-Thorn Street, which today already connects Beekkant Square with the Gentsesteeweg. This extension will form a new ‘green connection’ between Beekkant Square and Av. De Rooverelaan, the future Westpark and the Marie-José Park. private companies guard the fenced construction sites with guards and video cameras. Planning processes of the West station area gradually introduce future perspectives but at the same time condition the access to different sites such as the vacant space along the tracks.

Recording (2021) : On site

In addition to the expansion of railroad tracks, Infrabel developed the ‘Infrabel academy’ project on a plot between the railroad, the Delhaize halls, and the garages of the social housing. The project includes an extension of the Dubois-Thorn Street, which today already connects Beekkant Square with the Gentsesteeweg. This extension will form a new ‘green connection’ between Beekkant Square and Av. De Rooverelaan, the future Westpark and the Marie-José Park. private companies guard the fenced construction sites with guards and video cameras. Planning processes of the West station area gradually introduce future perspectives but at the same time condition the access to different sites such as the vacant space along the tracks.

Recording (2021) : On site

Beekkant Square is the main square of this part of Molenbeek. It owes its actual form with the garden and two bordering social housing towers as the main buildings to a large extent to the design of the social housing complex Cité Edmond Machtens.

The square faces the entrance to the underground Beekkant metro station with access to the pedestrian bridge and on its right side the undeveloped and fenced-off West Station site and on the left, the Dubois-Thornstreet giving access to both the Infrabel academy campus site and Delhaize Hall buildings. It has stations for buses, and bike and car sharing.

In addition to its green and recreation area, the square also offers an agora space with benches. A monumental sculpture emphasizes a no longer operative railway line to the Delhaize Site in the back.

According to the plans for west station, the square will become even more important as esplanade connecting the underground metro station and the pedestrian bridge with the future park. Besides its function as esplanade integrating different traffic flows, the square also operates as a neighborhood square, where people of different generations pass by, relax, play, and perform.

Recording (2016)

Beekkant Square is the main square of this part of Molenbeek. It owes its actual form with the garden and two bordering social housing towers as the main buildings to a large extent to the design of the social housing complex Cité Edmond Machtens.

The square faces the entrance to the underground Beekkant metro station with access to the pedestrian bridge and on its right side the undeveloped and fenced-off West Station site and on the left, the Dubois-Thornstreet giving access to both the Infrabel academy campus site and Delhaize Hall buildings. It has stations for buses, and bike and car sharing.

In addition to its green and recreation area, the square also offers an agora space with benches. A monumental sculpture emphasizes a no longer operative railway line to the Delhaize Site in the back.

According to the plans for west station, the square will become even more important as esplanade connecting the underground metro station and the pedestrian bridge with the future park. Besides its function as esplanade integrating different traffic flows, the square also operates as a neighborhood square, where people of different generations pass by, relax, play, and perform.

Recording (2016)

The position and architecture of the two residential towers causes reverberation and amplification of sounds in the empty space above the square. This can be thought of as a complex dynamic unity marked by continuous movement with the bouncing back and forth as multiplier of the sound’s movement without chopping it. Verbal sounds coming from conversations in the agore space are being amplified when interacting with the architecture of the square and buildings. A similar amplifying and reverberating effect occur with passing freight trains and helicopters in the sky as well as police sirens on the ground, exposing the housing complex' aural architecture.

Recording (2016)

The position and architecture of the two residential towers causes reverberation and amplification of sounds in the empty space above the square. This can be thought of as a complex dynamic unity marked by continuous movement with the bouncing back and forth as multiplier of the sound’s movement without chopping it. The temporary presence of soldiers triggered verbal reactions among young people. When interacting with the soldiers from within the arena space of Beekkant Square, verbal sounds are being amplified when interacting with the architecture of the square and buildings.

Recording (2016): not here

Video: Wz, S. (2019). Ils est balaise. Wz, S. & Mr Choco. (n.d.). West-Zone.

Together with the emergence of internet and hip-hop at the turn of the century, local young performers started to explore Beekkant Square both as virtual, augmented and distributed urban sound space. In 2016, local youth together with the prevention service organized a rap competition called 'Beekkant rap'. This project was such a success that the staff and youth then built a recording studio close to Beekkant Square. Today, Beekkant Square is still a popular location for online distributed music video clips. In the period between two periods of assembly bans, WZ and rapper Souli distributed a new music video (Wz -Souli, 2019).

WZ (Souli) is a freestyle rapper who has been active since 2016. Vice magazine (2020) considers him as one of Brussels best rappers to depict raw and precise the real life of the Brussels neighborhoods. The video clip of Il est balaise was filmed at night at Beekkant Square and in between the garages of the housing complex. In recent decades, Beekkant Square became a popular performance space for young musicians both as social cultural project (Bknt Rap Project, 2015) and as independent initiative (Des Claques, 2011), (Wz -Souli, 2019). The soundtrack produced by 300 Momo contributes to affective capacity of Il est balaise. It combines drums with bass reminding of the automatic gun sound, samples of real gun sound, and some drill synth bell sounds mixed with bass creating a dark and aggressive sound sphere. In the video, young men and little boys gather in a circle around the rapper. They are masked and some wear war clothes such as bulletproof vests. Some carry a flag, others hold a pit bull on a leash. Occasionally a weapon pops up. They also show off large motor vehicles. During the performance, the young people appropriate the space of the square and parts of the building. They stand on the roof of an outbuilding that used to house a social service.

Electromagnetic inducers render the presence of surveillance technology audible. Awareness of this technology enforces a cut out of urban sounds on different locations in the urban space.

Recording (2021)

Patterns of vibrations coming from traffic flows dominate the urban sound space of Beekkant Square. Recurring police sirens articulate the presence of control. This results in a mix of low and high frequencies waves moving through the air. Listening to Beekkant Square only allows a partial exploration of the urban sound space. Underground infrastructure enforces their experience through one’s feet on the ground. The street can be experienced as a ‘sensory surface’ connecting human and other bodies with the rhythm of the underground traffic. Environmental sounds are underrepresented.

In a more recent video clip performed at Beekkant Square (Wz, 2021) a young rapper’s autotuned voice rolls over a dead-and-dry grid-like beat produced by KeyBrams Prod. The track introduces a sound sphere of disruptive energy featuring some micro innovations not just in its creative use of auto-tune and other vocal processing but also in its switching between the rhythmic speech of rap and melodic trills of singing.

Recording (2021)

Video Clip: WZ. (2021). J’vais l’faire. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7mDZsdFeO8

Blending of traffic sounds with natural sounds. A wall prevents physical and visual access to a waiting space appropriated by plants and animals. The cut-off creates the presence of a distant sound field. Future Zone for Biodiversity.

Recording (2016)

In addition to the expansion of railroad tracks, Infrabel developed its ‘Infrabel academy’ project on a plot between the railroad, the Delhaize halls, and the garages of the social housing. The project includes an extension of the Dubois-Thorn Street, which today already connects Beekkant Square with the Gentsesteeweg. This extension will form a new ‘green connection’ between Beekkant Square and Av. De Rooverelaan, the future Westpark and the Marie-José Park.There is also a plan to develop a swimming pool here.Private companies guard the fenced construction sites with guards and video cameras. Planning processes of the West station area gradually introduce future perspectives but at the same time condition the access to different sites such as the vacant space along the tracks.

Recording (2020): on site

Passerelle Beekkant will become a strategic connection between the higher part of Molenbeek and the future park. The decision to keep, renovate and adapt the pedestrian bridge is also motivated by its capacity to offer extra space for play and sporting activities in the future West Park. There will be another bridge centrally located in the quadrants 'Activated Park' and 'Space for Biodiversity'. This one will connect West Square with Beekkant Square and will be accessible for pedestrians. A third bridge is situated in the southern part and is planned to become an additional connection between neighborhoods across transportation infrastructures. This one is planned to become a shortcut to the railway platforms and is open for pedestrians.

Recording (2016)

The future new park at West station will cover almost completely the two northern kwadrants of PAD Weststation. This project is part of a larger strategic development of a green (park) network along the L28 railroad line. The idea is to position the new park as a pivot between Marie-José Park and the 'Gasometer' zone north of the site. The aim of this strategic implementation of green space and water management in the pivotal zones between these parks is to effectively dynamize the network. A diversified sequence of green spaces extends the system to the more paved areas of the site. Other programs of the PAD are more concentrated on the south of the site, including necessary shifts between certain parts in order to activate the site as a whole. Priority in this program is the branching of the open spaces, the mixing of functions and the integration of "new" into existing infrastructures.

Recording (2016)

The future new park at West station will cover almost completely the two northern kwadrants of PAD Weststation. This project is part of a larger strategic development of a green (park) network along the L28 railroad line. The idea is to position the new park as a pivot between Marie-José Park and the 'Gasometer' zone north of the site. The aim of this strategic implementation of green space and water management in the pivotal zones between these parks is to effectively dynamize the network. A diversified sequence of green spaces extends the system to the more paved areas of the site. Other programs of the PAD are more concentrated on the south of the site, including necessary shifts between certain parts in order to activate the site as a whole. Priority in this program is the branching of the open spaces, the mixing of functions and the integration of "new" into existing infrastructures.

Recording (2016)