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EUROPA
Building Europe, an architectural metaphor
By exploring the bowels of a constantly evolving building at the heart of the
European capital, the
Centre International pour la Ville, l’Architecture et le
Paysage
materialises the three themes that define its missions.
Far from only existing through its façade visible from the public space, a
construction is essentially made up of a structure resting on its foundations.
The intrinsic quality of the elements drawn by the designers is indeed expressed
in the building’s shell, which to passers-by is the only part perceived from the
outset. However, the true architectural dimension escapes the majority and
remains concealed.
The Europa building displays a sophisticated composition, which had to take
on board numerous constraints. Its location in an, at the very least, chaotic
urban environment as the result of an erratic urban planning history. Its dialogue
with an exceptional patrimonial building, the
Résidence Palace
designed by the
architect Michel Polak and built between 1924 and 1927, by accommodating this
major extension now becomes integrated into a unique building.
The
Résidence Palace
has gone through numerous trials and tribulations since its
construction. World War II was fatal to the prestigious residence, which provided
multiple services to its occupants following the example of American models.
At the end of the day, the building owes its survival only to its conversion into
offices.
The
Léopold
Quarter, which it adjoins and whose appearance was also disrupted
by the loss of interest in its splendid private mansions and by the departure of
their residents who gave way to employees who go back home before nightfall.
In the meantime, Brussels’ European role was confirmed and developed
concomitantly with urban mutations at work in this area of Brussels geography.
From the first symbolic building erected on the site of the
Dames de Berlaymont
convent, the progress of European institutions was progressively written in
stone in accordance with diverse architectural outcomes and within a relatively
limited perimeter. Each new building represents a further step in the political
development of the European concept.
We remember that in the past, the choice of architectural projects intended
for international institutions had nearly always been dominated by styles of the
past. For example, neo-renaissance for the
Palais de la Paix
, headquarters of
the Permanent Court of Arbitration and the International Court of Justice in
The Hague, work by Louis-Marie Cordonnier or the classicism of the
École des
Beaux-Arts
for the headquarters of the League of Nations whose international
PREFACE
