What about Wyckerpoort?

Our meeting with Wyckerpoort’s inhabitants on the occasion of the promotional photoshoot, left us with the feeling
that something is happening there: there’s a great vibe in the area!

In the afternoon, some middle-aged are taking their dogs for a walk, children are playing football in the square,
a girl smiles to us from her window…  On the other hand, locals tell us stories about crime, thievery, violence in the neighborhood. Walks lead us to the Old Hickoryplein, whose architecture is fully aligned, spatially, with the region’s human composition: the square is surrounded by three sides, by unified blocks of three storey buildings,  while the “fourth wall” consists by an elementary school and a series of closed, abandoned shops. In the center of the square there are basketball and football courts, a park for dog walks and meeting places, that are “alive” only limited hours of the day.

At night, however, the landscape is illuminated mainly by street lights around the square and indirectly by the buildings’ staircases lighting, leaving an empty dark hole in the center. The need to unite the four sides, the houses’ private space, the entertainment area and the abandoned shops, was evident for us.

Using light to make this happen seems quite a challenge!

Our goal is to “illuminate” each “dark spot” in the history of the neighborhood by connecting the scattered pieces of the puzzle and do something that will create a dialogue with the residents.  The square itself seems like the perfect canvas to work in, with permanent spectators living in its perimeter!

We will be posting more updates for the interventions on this website, so stay tuned!