Putting people first: a participatory process in Esseghem
pali pali joins forces with Traumnovelle and TPF for the participatory process of apartment renovation in Esseghem
The Esseghem site in Jette comprises a complex of six buildings. Built between the 70s and 90s, they are arranged around a large public space. As part of the Magritte Sustainable Neighborhood Contract, a competition was won by Studio Paola Vigano for the complete redevelopment of the public spaces. Lojega has now appointed Pali Pali, Traumnovelle and TPF to carry out a two-part feasibility study: on the one hand, the energy renovation of two housing blocks, and on the other, the activation of the buildings' first floors.
Faced with a social, fragile and sometimes precarious public, the ambition to thermally renovate a housing stock such as the Esseghem 1 and 2 buildings must take into account both present and future energy market conditions. In 2019, fuel poverty affected almost 28% of Brussels residents and 41% of social tenants (King Baudouin Foundation). A great deal of forward-looking research predicts that the cost of energy will increase while its availability will decrease. Without being alarmist, we need to take note of these trends and face up to them carefully and attentively.
"THE RESIDENT-FIRST APPROACH
This is why we have decided to put residents first in the considerations for the renovation of Esseghem's housing stock, to assert our determination to protect this public who will not be able to cope with rising energy costs. Developing a long-term vision is a proactive and balanced way to prepare for future energy crises, and even in their absence, to reinforce the energy independence of residents, and therefore their quality of life.
The vision for this project hinges on a key guiding principle: how can we use the ambition of thermal renovation of housing and programming of ground floors to reinforce other criteria such as health and safety, comfort and pleasure of use, inclusion and the environment? What approaches, what pooling of resources, what approaches will enable us to significantly improve quality of life with the same budget?
TWO COMPLEMENTARY MISSIONS
By reconciling the ethics of care and benevolence, our study places these watchwords at the forefront of considerations for the renovation of the Esseghem housing stock.
We saw the two aspects of the mission as complementary and in dialogue. Considering first floors and outdoor spaces as collective extensions of domestic space that can not only improve the habitability of the park, for example by offering essential service functions to residents, but also as spaces that give their users a new autonomy, a new capacity for action.
For each of the two parts of the mission, we put forward certain concepts - spatial, technical or programmatic - which serve as tools for designing the scenarios. They act as "quality guarantees", ensuring the level of ambition and coherence of each approach. They do, however, avoid inducing ready-made answers that are not amenable to dialogue with the project owner, residents or other stakeholders...
TEMPORARY OCCUPATION
In this program, pali pali is more specifically in charge of supervising the temporary occupation process and developing the perennial programming for the first floors of the Esseghem district in Jette. Built around a participatory approach to social issues, the mission involves accompanying the temporary occupation and mediation in the neighborhood, focusing on the creation of a real culture of proximity.
All this attention to mediation revolves around the occupants and users. We are already offering agoras and co-construction workshops to bring these audiences together and enable them to make these new spaces their own.
The first agora took place in the first week of August, with a view to starting co-construction workshops in September, and occupancy by the end of the month.
A communal kitchen, a community café, a library run by residents, a training center for young people, a laundry, a village hall, a study room... There's no shortage of ideas, and the residents of Esseghem have no hesitation in putting forward proposals to create, in addition to shared spaces, solid networks of help and sharing based on the skills of each individual. This innovative social dynamic could even create a new neighborhood concept, following the example of "Living and Working" in Zwicky Süd (Zurich). In Esseghem, we could focus on training and career guidance for young people, as several residents have already suggested.
