70
EUROPA
2011.11.29
2012.08.30
The recycling of window frames from renovation or demolition sites through-
out Europe, their transport, their assembly in the workshop, implement an idea
present from the very first drafts of the project, inspired by designs explicitly in
favour of the requirements of sustainable development, i.e., the economy of
re-use coupled with bold engineering. The combination of wooden windows
within a patchwork structure reveals the assumed tension of this architecture,
between reference to the activity of labourers, their perennial artisanal traditions
and the deployment of the composition at an uncommon scale. The dimensions
of this patchwork are those of a true architectonic system, in accordance with a
constant trend in Philippe Samyn’s architecture, which consists of abandoning
the illusions of planar geometry, i.e., from the very beginning the architecture is
considered in its width and depth, it collects materials, as thin as possible, and not
mere surfaces. The patchwork collects boxes, i.e., volumes – made from wood,
glass and metal, within the strict coordination of geometry and structural forces.
The patchwork is no odd job, it is inspired by the philosophy of composition,
whichmakes sense on the material and technical level. Sewing together swatches
of fabric, integrating the variety of patterns and textures, patchwork gives life and
shape to the heterogeneous. It recalls the textile origin of architecture [accord-
ing to Gottfried Semper’s genealogical theory], even the four or five techniques
linked to the use of vegetable or animal fibres, i.e., weaving, plaiting, knotting,
felting… Like the recycling of materials that have already been manufactured and
used, patchwork is a second-hand technique: it even uses this fact to increase
the value of materials that were discarded, and to enhance figures, to revive dor-
mant shapes and colours. It is the art of a second life, particularly conducive to
symbolism. By extension, patchwork indicates the ability to combine its scattered
fragments into a plan: it gathers what is different, what is dissimilar. Patchwork
fills the plan, but without the constraint of regular paving, which on principle
excludes empty and overlapping intervals. On the contrary it allows for remedia-
tion, patching up. It shows all the signs of a minor art form – and yet the archi-
tecture here raises it to the ranks of a bold construction system. It is a genuine
architectural technique. Plastic and sensitive, it is extracted from a purely formal
vision of design, hoists its makeshift geometries to the rank of accomplished art.
Patchwork matches its pieces in accordance with similarities that may be in ma-
terial, shape or pattern. In this sense, the assembly is neither perfectly regular nor
truly random. The everyday environment is full of it, i.e., the market stall, fashion
and street styles, books in a bookcase. Patchwork is linked to writing, drawing,
painting. It superimposes lines as tracing papers does, it juxtaposes signs, icons,
diagrams, as maps do. Architecture and the city passes on a universal message:
the meeting of the most diverse buildings on adjoining or neighbouring parcels,
along a road or within a housing block, represents the permanent expression of
urban life, shining the lights of its thousands of homes. And what would be a bet-
ter opportunity than these headquarters and this symbol of political power, along
this
Rue de la Loi
, in the middle of Brussels’ “European Quarter”? Beyond the
the PATCHWORK
