COLONNADE
Public space – Renovation of the colonnade along Midi Station
client: Commune de Saint-Gilles
site: Saint-Gilles, BE
design team: Emilie Bechet (part of act.) + Light-To-Light + Cécile Vandernoot
timing: 2022 -2024
status: tender
Built between 1939 and 1959 according to the plans of the architects Adrien and Yvan Blomme and Fernand Petit, the Midi Station complex is a remarkably unified architectural entity. The Avenue Fonsny colonnade is part of this ensemble.
Composed of 48 concrete columns and a blind wall 270 meters long, this covered passageway runs between the station and the future Avant-Senne Park. This length, like an urban score, is punctuated by bricks, columns, catenary pilasters/pylons, balustrades, light fittings and so on.
The main aim of the project is to enhance the existing structure. The wall surface is cleaned; existing and future graphic expressions are revealed. Here and there planting completes the sequence of the colonnade. Warm, almost domestic lighting is installed at regular intervals. The ground surface is restored, becoming a large, playful and poetic urban carpet.