Leesstraat is the temporary public space activation of Rue de la Reine, a small pedestrian street located in the center of Brussels, between the National Opera House La Monnaie and Muntpunt Library. The project is a collaboration between Cakri and Muntpunt and consists in an extension of the reading activities of the library towards the public space.

Rue de La Reine presents certain climatic conditions that add on its spatial qualities as a public space. The shadows projected from the Library building over three quarters of the street and the light wind currents eventually running through, provide ideal conditions of comfort, highly appreciated during summer times.

However, despite the good quality of its paving and the existence of benches placed along the lateral transparent façade of the Library, Rue de la Reine is almost exclusively used as a service street.

To the initiative of Cakri to make an intervention that could dynamize this space, Muntpunt provided the programmatic framework through their initiative “1 City, 19 Books” in which each of the 19 municipalities of Brussels selected one book to be promoted during the summer.

Muntpunt favored the idea to bring outside certain indoor activities and to provide a new meaning to the street during summer time, when Rue de la Reine becomes Leesstraat: an ‘oasis of quietude for reading in the open air’ offering a range of spaces for many types of reading experiences, individual, collective and ludic.

The project includes the installation of light scaffolding structures that, in combination with wooden elements, hammocks and nets, provide a variety of reading spaces for adults and children, zones for public readings, audio-books and concerts.

The scaffolding structure is “dressed” with 54 layers of fabric that adds shade, color and movement to the whole installation.