Urban Revitalization Master Plan and Building Complex
Ghent, Belgium

In the Middle Age Ghent to become one of the largest and richest cities of northern Europe. Today the waterfront areas of Ghent are places where people gather to socialize, attend festivals or simply enjoy the relaxing nature of the water that gently meanders through the city.
The new SOFA master plan proposes that landscape is not implemented as a picturesque addition to the site but rather developed as a crucial element in the successful activation and experiential qualities of the project. The new landscape strategy draws inspiration from the network of parks and urban space throughout Ghent. As a way of creating a cohesive sequence of external spaces the landscape flows and collects through and around the site and it’s program; articulating the external realm as a manicured landscape belt. Ghent has a strong and vibrant tradition of Art, Architecture and craft which together provide the urban setting, spatial and visual experiences which residents and visitors have come to identify with the city.
The masterplan introduces large scale public art into the landscaped areas of the site; not as a mere spectacle but as a means of articulating and activating external space while simultaneously engaging the public on a cultural and personal level. In doing so a field of Art will be created as a new destination for the city, tying together threads of Ghent’s cultural rich cultural history with a 21st century vision for the city’s future.

Date: 2005
Size: 25,000 m2
Location: Ghent, Belgium
Architect: Asymptote Architecture
Design: Hani Rashid, Lise Anne Couture
Design team: Greg Derrico, Sander Schuur, Robert Hendrick, Blake Altshuler, Stephanie Harroch, Makiko Nukaga, Claudia Friesz, Zach Hines, Heecue Yang, Janine Hartleb, Sung Hak Ko, Aung Kyaw, Nkiru Mokwe, Difeng Zhou, Patrick Lausell, Byungjeen Seo
Client: Eurostation
Consultants Structural Engineer: Buro Happold
Environmental Consultant: Atelier ten Cost
Consultant: Davis Langdon