Meanwhile: Weaving the Ground Floor

Students:
Adélie Boileau
Lisa Desonniaux
Loïc Spieß
Ararat Ghambaryan

Instructors:
Prof. Dr. Markus Miessen
Dr. César Reyes Nájera
Gustav Nielsen
Dr. Ena Kukic

Neighbourhood Day installation and conversations with residents, informing the development of the project through local knowledge and everyday experiences

Developed within the Design Studio “Rout Lëns: Infrastructuring Thresholds”, the project investigates how the development of a new neighbourhood can contribute to the existing urban fabric of Esch-sur-Alzette. This inquiry led to the city's ground floors—the interface between buildings and public life—where vacant spaces emerged not as signs of decline, but as moments of transition with untapped spatial and social potential.

Rather than treating vacancy as a passive interruption, “Meanwhile: Weaving the Ground Floor” proposes “Open While Waiting”, a flexible protocol that enables vacant spaces to accommodate temporary uses emerging from local needs while remaining open to future possibilities. Bringing together property owners, municipal actors and local communities, the protocol transforms the waiting period into a moment of assessment, enabling each vacant space to be evaluated and, where appropriate, improved through targeted architectural interventions that enhance both temporary occupation and its future use. Demonstrated through the adaptation of a vacant shopfront, the proposal illustrates how thoughtful, site-specific interventions can generate lasting spatial value. By connecting individual spaces into a distributed network of adaptable ground floors, the project offers a strategy for strengthening the existing city while complementing Esch-sur-Alzette's ongoing urban transformation.

Territorial map illustrating the relationship between Esch city centre, Rout Lëns, Belval and Metzeschmelz, and proposing a distributed network of temporarily activated ground floors

Architectural prototype, showing selective interventions, material circulation and the application of the “Open While Waiting” protocol

Section illustrating the transformation of the same ground floor through vacancy, temporary communal use and future occupation

The “Open While Waiting” protocol and the fictional narratives developed to communicate the research and the architectural proposal

Project exhibition preperation at the final review, presenting the protocol, fictional narratives and architectural proposal