Once upon a time there was Esch-Schifflange and its new quarter “Metzeschmelz”
Ideally located between Esch-sur-Alzette and Schifflange, about one kilometre from each town centre, this industrial wasteland shows enormous redevelopment potential as part of the “Metzeschmelz” project. Designed and managed by AGORA, this new quarter will be unique in Luxembourg with a totally innovative urban planning approach that puts people at…
When Belval became an integral part of a Unesco biosphere reserve
“Saving nature is saving mankind. “This is how we could sum up the mission of the UNESCO Man and Biosphere programme,” Gaëlle Tavernier tells us. Belval is fully committed to this major objective.
When art interacts with urban vision
Art and the city are old friends. They have rubbed shoulders for thousands of years. In Pompeii, which was buries 2000 years ago, were found on the walls... almost 11,000 graffiti. As for the modern city, it too does not escape the enthusiasm of the artists. Whether it is street…
When urban planning draws on history
We are in 1850, between Belvaux and Esch. It’s Sunday and families are dressed in their Sunday best to stroll through what is now a recreational area full of nature. It must be said that the forest growing here, the “Escher Bësch”, is a very popular place. Also known as…
Once upon a time there was… knowledge in Belval
In Belval, grey matter is the most fertile of resources. On the Terrasse des Hauts Fourneaux, a territory of knowledge and research, the buildings created by the Fonds Belval (Belval Fund) create an avant garde campus of teaching and research structures and innovative startups, from which the world of tomorrow…
Alzette-Belval: an exemplary cross-border collaboration towards an IBA?
In the wake of the Belval and Alzette revitalisations, a new Franco-Luxembourg urban agglomeration is taking shape. Here is the story of the prefiguration of a cross-border IBA, under the aegis of the European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation - EGTC - Alzette Belval. In the long run, the IBA could…
Belval: contemporary urban planning promotes heritage and reinvents it
In Belval, AGORA has not been satisfied with just promoting the conservation of the former steel installations of ArcelorMittal (formerly Arbed). From the very first reflections on the future of the site, it became clear that they should play a key role in urban life. They had to be given…
Belval, a quarter with a design based on a bold masterplan
The musicians of the orchestra interpret the pieces strictly following a score. In urban planning, the same thing happens: architects, engineers, landscape and urban planners always work from a masterplan, a reference planning document built around the same vision, the same consistency and the same game plan. The Belval masterplan,…
The birth of AGORA, a development company unlike any other
Before a university, a park, a shopping centre and a complete living environment was built in Belval to the delight of its new residents, there was a vast wasteland and strong political will to revive the area. This is how the State of Luxembourg and the giant ArcelorMittal have joined…