Kielpark: an urban insert in Kiel, Antwerp

The Kiel district of Antwerp has been part of the city since the seventeen hundreds. Most of the villages of Hoog-Kiel and Laag-Kiel disappeared under the ramparts and bulwarks of the expanded city defences and now lie underneath the motorway that replaced them. Only the hamlet of Beerschoten remained. The name Kiel refers to a "kyle" a bay on the river Scheldt. The field of fire around the city defences meant that there was ample space here to host the 1920 Olympic Games and 1930 World Exhibition. Both sites were subsequently developed as residential areas. Urbanisation also occurred in a typically Belgian manner along pre-existing lanes and roads. This lead to a fragmented urban landscape of incidental developments alternating with planned large to medium size developments.

Especially after WW2 the city of Antwerp took a proactive approach to urban development to counteract de rapid suburbanisation in the villages and towns around it. This meant that wherever possible free spaces within the urban fabric should be developed, mostly for residential use, although offices were in some cases also built. The Kielpark neighbourhood is an example of such an urban insert.

Between 1952 and 1967 the Maatschappij de Goede Woning (literally: Good Residence Society), a social housing society, developed a new residential area between the Jan De Voslei and the Boomsesteenweg on a site near the former sites of the Summer Olympics and the World Exhibition. The neigbourhood consists solely of apartments of varying height set in communal green space next to the Kielpark; the park from which the neighbourhood took its name. The idea was the have the park flow into the residential area seamlessly. Alas the large areas now in use for parking have eaten away at the green space enveloping the buildings.

The park itself was planted on the former Kiel cemetery that was started in 1786 after a decree of Emperor Joseph II of Habsburg-Lorraine forbidding burials in inner-city churchyards . The cemetery quickly became Antwerp's main burial site and remained so until the Schoonselhof cemetery was founded in 1911 top cope with the increasing number of inhabitants of the city. The cemetery at Kiel was decommissioned from 1921 onwards and was returned to the people as a public park in 1952.

All buildings in the Kielpark neighbourhood are freestanding and measure 16, 7 or 5 storeys. The architect is J Smolderen, who -together with Hendrik Maes- designed compact and airy apartments in sleek block where the structure is ornamental. Especially on the ground floor elevation and around the doors extra care has been taken to create pleasant spaces. The neighbourhood has a communal  thermal energy plant and other amenities such as a recreational building with cinema and stage, cultural centre, playing fields, two schools and a daycentre for the elderly.

The Kielpark-neighbourhood is wedged between two pre-existing neighbourhoods on a long strip of land next to the covered motorway. On the left is the Olympic neighbourhood near the Olympic stadium (OS) that is very recognisable by its grid layout. On the right lies the Tentoonstellingswijk (T) on the site of the Great Exhibition of 1930. Towards the north lies the Kielpark (KP) a former cemetery turned urban park. The infill project is shown in black and consists of several apartment blocks and three towers on the edge of the park making the most of the available space.