EUROPA
21
Project design sketch.
Philippe Samyn, 2005.
Today, Europa may very well be adjoining the
Justus Lipsius
building, the for-
tress that leans its heavy administrative shell on the invisible body of European
power. Nonetheless the new building will set itself apart and will even take ad-
vantage of the tall silhouette of listed façades. Europa will retain both strength
tied to change and distortion in that location of the urban landscape, i.e., the
building is less aligned with Rue de la Loi than it leans against a complex that had
dominated the area for a long time, and whose upper floors overlooked the entire
Brussels landscape. The neatness of the quadrangle within which the new build-
ing is designed will not make us forget its angled layout or the fact that it is nested
in a complex housing block, beautified with various add-ons and with the design
of its outline. The
Résidence Palace
was proudly erected in the 1920s, whilst it
seemed to have been forced to blend into the adjoining buildings as it aged, here
it regains its status and shines a second time: due to the prestige brought about
by a complete change in style; due to the near-surrealist brilliance with which a
new architectonic and iconic approach was created behind its façade.
Detail of the canopy over the
main entrance of Block A during
its dismantling in the 1960s.
Detail of the canopy over the
secondary entrances in Block C.
Draft blueprint of the façade on
Rue
de la Loi
by Michel Polak, 1922. This
plan only shows 7 floors whilst 8
were completed in the end.
Façade of Block A of the
Résidence Palace
,
Rue de la Loi
, extract from the promotional brochure, ca. 1927.
FROM RéSIDENCE PALACE TO EUROPA
