City expected to have a sunbathing platform on
the water to encourage people swimming again in
the canal. I ask city to let us design this sunbathing
platform. Then the project became one of the
BrugesTriennale exhibits. It not only enlarges the
public space within a too busy touristic city center,
but also indicates how much the water quality has
been improved by the effort of people and city
government. The behavior of people swimming in
the water would signal the improvement of water
quality. We expect young citizen to practice their
own public space in the water as well as the eldery
who used to enjoy swimming in the canal. We
name this the ‘Canal Swimmer’s Club’ in order to
assign a fictional social background behind it.
The site is divided into two areas by the
“Carmersbrug”. One side provides a main access
point for swimmers entering the water. On the
other side tourist boats pass by on a regular basis
and swimming is prohibited. Two platforms are
placed on each side, connected by a path running
under the “Carmersbrug”.
Architects: Atelier Bow-Wow, Architectuuratelier Dertien 12
Photographs: Filip Dujardin, Jan Darthet, Stef Declerck
Landscape & Urban Design Issue 16
27