19
EUROPA
The Europa project bears witness to the Union’s strengthened role. It is none-
theless far from the extravagant architecture of presidential palaces or major
urban landmarks that stand for power just about anywhere in Europe. The inte-
gration of the future building into existing layouts, jammed behind the historic
façades of the
Résidence Palace
, draws attention to the paradoxes of Brussels
town planning. At first sight, urban planning has not prevented a completely
disparate architectural backdrop along
Rue de la Loi
, i.e., the mishmash of office
buildings, built one after another and growing taller as the real estate needs of the
Commission, the Parliament and the Council increased. In reality, if one stands
on the main road in this quarter, the ineffective perspective view created from the
Cinquantenaire
Park is not sufficient to overcome the impression of urban sham-
bles. On the other hand, if one considers the size of the “housing blocks”, and the
profile of buildings enhanced by the slope in the ground and the streets, it is un-
derstood that at the end of the day, the architectural chaos is only compensated
and punctuated by the change in scale of the largest buildings. In this respect,
the former
Résidence Palace
, which once broke with tradition and a “fabric” of
houses built on the slope break line, was indeed the precursor of an urban revo-
lution, which substituted the half rural/half urban tradition of old layouts with the
imposing scale of this “art deco” complex.
Card authorising visit to
the construction site signed
by Michel Polak, 1925.
Private collection.
Workers on the
Résidence
Palace
construction site in
Le Home
, March 1925.
Layout plan of the
Résidence Palace
complex in
Le Home
, March 1925.
FROM RéSIDENCE PALACE TO EUROPA
