Marie Moors

The thesis ‘Where people and music meet’ is an interpretation on the social force of the accumulation of music and architecture. This work provides the theoretical foundation for the final project of studio P.R.E.T, the acronym of Personality, Recreation, Experiment and Timelessness, headed by Prof. Guy Cleuren. It is inspired by today’s realities, especially the refugee problem. It is an ambitious story about shared values with the aim to encourage people to think about today’s political influences.

The methodology is a confluence of objective and subjective references. Literature studies and case studies form the academic basis, while informal interviews represent the real life opinions.

In this politically driven times of change, there is a need for alternative views. The design studio offers the research field Ostend. The city does not utilize its valuable, cultural potentials. Therefore Ostend is the perfect place for an artful, innovative concept.

The first chapter focuses on the binding capacity of music. Music is a universal language and has the power to wind up political stereotypes. This theoretical idea takes shape through the creation of a multicultural band of artistic political refugees in combination with the local harmonic orchestra. The following two chapters define the harmonious program and give an architectural description of the project site. The atypical findings in terms of dealing with heritage provide a surprising added value. The last chapter shows that a design, inspired by music, is powerful enough to bring people together in Ostend.

This article questions the decision to demolish one of the Brutalist masterpieces in Belgium: the Ostend Swimming Pool. In a zeitgeist where adaptive reuse of all sort of buildings plays a central role in architecture and urban renewal the (almost evident) question arises, why not to consider a new use?

Firstly, we discuss the building’s history and architectural potentials, especially focusing on its conception as a public interior. Taking, the social program of the building as an inspiration, we secondly reference projects in which the transformation and reuse of a building has been initiated through public action in a spontaneous and uncontrolled way, e.g. Kunsthaus Tacheles in Mitte, Berlin. Thirdly, we reflect on a possible future approach for the Ostend swimming pool through the concept of ‘counter-preservation’ and ruination. To conclude, we reflect on the tension between the traditional conservational approach towards heritage buildings and sites versus spontaneous public action on the build environment. We search to strike a balance between degradation and restoration – although a ruin is ‘irretrievable’ and thereby some heritage values will be lost, the concept still fits into the ‘structural integrity’ of the ‘brutalist thought’.

Is the concept of the ruin therefore not the perfect compromise between the demolition plan of the municipality and a full renovation? Is it not possible that this landmark’s best moment is yet to come?