Page 14 - AGC_EN_iBook

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Architecture is an artistic and technical process aimed at blending the project owner’s ‘grand design’ with the genius loci.
An exceptionally complex process, it involves intensive teamwork, with all participants – the project owner, project designers and contractors – invited to pool their skills and personalities in favour of the ‘grand design’.
And the architect’s role? Working like the composer of a musical score and the conductor of the orchestra playing it, it is his responsibility to blend the functional, technical and artistic aspects, integrating and coordinating the different works with a view to achieving the nal goal: the nished building nestling on its site.
This introduction discusses the genius loci of the Louvain-la-Neuve site and presents the project as a continuation of my (experimental) work.
tHe GeNIuS LOCI
Coined by Christian Norberg Schulz1, the term covers all physical characteristics (orientation, neighbourhood, soil type, topography, ora and fauna, climate, pollution of all kinds, etc.) and intangible characteristics (history, legends, sociology, public or private man- agement, etc.) of the site where the building is to be erected.
Knowledge of the site’s genius loci is of vital importance for the project designer, as all its constituent characteristics necessar-
ily in uence the project’s ‘grand design’, whether in the form of constraints or opportunities. It is particularly important to identify a site’s strengths and weaknesses at the very start of the study phase. A key and not-to-be-underestimated process, getting to know the genius loci often involves a lot of time and money.
The genius loci of the AGC Glass Building project is closely associated with the spirit of Louvain-la-Neuve, a new city located to the south-east of Brussels.
LOuVaIN-La-NeuVe
With Professor Michel Woitrin heading the overall project, plan- ning for the new city started in 1968 and was carried out by a multidisciplinary team under Raymond Lemaire (Professor of Art history at the Université catholique de Louvain [UCL]), Jean-Pierre Blondel (architect and town planner, professor at La Cambre [École nationale supérieure des arts visuels]) and Pierre Laconte (econo- mist) and under the watchful and constructive eyes of the UCL authorities.
The foundation stone of the rst building (the Cyclotron) was laid on 2 February 1971.
With the theoretical principles at Louvain-la-Neuve explicit and clear, and planning rules understandable and strict, the city quickly became a magnet for architects. I was no exception, and I received a warm welcome there in 1977. Even now, I still feel very much at home there, as do my colleagues.
There is no need to ‘play the prince’ here2, a role assigned to the authorities.This gives the architect the chance to concentrate fully on his work3.