Page 85 - THE FIRE STATION

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SPATIAL DESIGN At this juncture, it is interesting to look at the layout of the Rocca
Pisana in Lonigo designed by Vincenzo Scamozzi in 1615, that of
Circles and grids Neuf-Brisach constructed ex nihilo by Vauban in 1697 and even the
“Cylindrical forms are a recurrent theme in all my projects. Castel Sant’Angelo built for the Roman Emperor Hadrian in 125.
Efficiency considerations rarely require a departure from cuboid,
cylindrical or spherical forms.” “The necessity of being able to “read” a building’s architecture
Philippe Samyn is to be found in the “match”, i.e. the way a building’s well-pro-
portioned spaces interact with each other both with regard to its
Inspired by Scamozzi, Vauban... functional imperatives and to linking up the building’s parts to
The architecture associated with movements of emergency re- form a whole.” Philippe Samyn, Entre ombre et lumière, transpar-
sponse vehicles in conjunction with the building’s compactness ence et reflet, article for the Royal Academy of Science, Letters and
dictated the fire station’s cylindrical form (90 metres in diameter). Fine Arts of Belgium

The north-south axis, extending from the Rue de laTombe, via the The horizontal and the vertical
Sentier desTerrils, to the training tower, vertically divides the build- Apart from the building’s scheme of levels/floors and their efficient
ing into two sections and creates a functional grid both for the in- functional interconnection, the building brings a horizontal and
ternal core on Levels 0 and 1 as well as for the layout of the various vertical dimension to the site.
areas on Levels 3 and 4.
The building itself moulds in with the site, as if it had always oc-
The fire station thus constitutes a dialogue between a circle and cupied this flat area, while its ‘‘drop of water” shape formed by the
a square. outer emergency vehicle road points to the entrances and exits
used during emergency responses and to the training tower, a
landmark in the urban skyline.

Plan of the Rocca Pisana in Lonigo designed Plan of Neuf-Brisach, the fortress constructed by Castel Sant’Angelo in Rome.
by Vincenzo Scamozzi in 1615. Vauban in 1697.