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Air de Jeux is a collaborative project between UCLouvain, VUB, the NGO Les chercheurs d’air, BuildWind, and regional partners. It proposes an urban environmental installation for a school street in the Brussels-Capital Region. Awarded the 2022 European Research Prize and funded by the SOM Foundation, the project explores how temporary street interventions can reduce children’s exposure to environmental stressors while creating spaces for play and community interaction. During autumn 2023, UCLouvain graduate students developed strategies for a school street in Saint-Gilles, including street closures, painting, greening, air sensing, and street furniture. A jury of academics, environmental experts, and public officials selected one project for realization. The installation aimed to enable children to make full use of the school street, incorporating reconfigurable fabric elements spanning the street for play and interaction, while fostering community engagement and raising awareness of surrounding environmental conditions. Following discussions with the Municipality of Saint-Gilles, Rue de la Rhétorique—home to the Peter Pan Primary School—was selected for implementation. Workshops with pupils and teachers were held at the school to raise environmental awareness and collect their ideas through questionnaires, street explorations, and play. In spring 2024, two workshops at LOCI Saint-Gilles focused on developing the selected strategy through hands-on metalworking and fabric design using reclaimed materials. The installation was completed during the summer and inaugurated on September 13th, 2024.
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Llaguno, M., Cavalieri, C., Lampariello, B., Ledent, G., Fontaine, C., Claeys, D., & Van Moeseke, G. (2025). Air de Jeux: Protecting Children from Air Pollution by Designing Urban Environmental Installations. UCLouvain. https://hdl.handle.net/2078.5/278648