The citadel of Diest is approached as a locus of revitalisation and consciousness through a lens of hardcore heritage. A study of the site’s history and use led to a haptic analysis that revealed the desire to create not so much a functional intervention but rather a spatial and sensory experience from which a place for awareness and renewal emerged. Architectural elements drawn from the citadel and its surroundings were reinterpreted into a play of light and sound, and the design is deliberately free of program, allowing each visitor to engage with the space in their own way and to momentarily withdraw from the demands of daily life.

 

This haptic analysis mapped how light enters the building, how sound resonates within its spaces, and how the site has shifted historically from busyness (especially during its military use) to quietude, echoing the surrounding forest and its past as farmland and pasture. The citadel, never truly able to fulfil its original defensive function, is reimagined as a place of leisure and decompression for the people of Diest. Modest interventions draw in light and connect to the dry ditch and forest, creating spaces of silence and reflection that remain free of fixed function, offering visitors the chance to rest, disconnect, or explore while leaving much of the citadel open for future uses by the city.