Railway line L161, which connects Brussels to Namur, snakes through Schaarbeek, dives underground here and there, passes under the European Quarter, and surfaces again at the Waversesteenweg in Elsene. There, the railway cuts through the urban space, forming a fault line in the city with its steep, inaccessible embankments. MSA and Ney & Partners went in search of the qualities of the existing infrastructure and zipped up the split urban fabric. The Highline creates a new connection for vulnerable road users and opens up new perspectives on urban space.

At first glance, the project by MSA and Ney & Partners is surprisingly simple and utterly natural. An elongated stretch of public space runs like a ribbon along the existing railway infrastructure. The path crosses previously impenetrable spaces and threads public spaces together. However, Alain Simon of MSA points out that the topography of the site, the constraints and requirements set out by Infrabel (the owner of the plot), and the soil and water conditions presented them with major technical challenges. In dealing with this complexity, the designers demonstrated their precision and ingenuity.