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architecture and urban planning, and what would be
the reflexes to overcome, even those associated with
what we still call modernism. In short, if all goes well,
entering one’s century is a matter of constant question-
ing. When Philippe Samyn wonders, in Pierre Loze’s
book, how to ‘become modern’, there are grounds for
wondering what meaning the adjective ‘modern’ still
holds today.
15
The theme of the book is contained in
its subtitle: Entretien sur l’art de construire (Discussion
about the Art of Building). One of the central ideas of
these interviews seems to be the need to match the
technical and economic content of architecture with its
image: ‘The initial works of the modernist movement
were still made via craftsmanship. Behind the white
coat of plaster there was craftsmanship. The forms
looked ahead to liberation with respect to the material
that was not yet technically possible. […] Today, we are
at a unique moment in history, where construction proc-
esses have become truly modern, completely industri-
alised and capable of implementing new materials. The
dream of an architecture that uses the least material
possible – an architecture not weighed down by matter,
by classical plasticity – is finally coming true.’
Later, Philippe Samyn writes, ‘At the start, the modern-
ist movement was much less modern than it is now,
both because it did not have the means to match its
ambitions, and because it was subjected to a century
and a half of decorative art and distractions.’ This is
a statement that Adolf Loos would perhaps not have
challenged, especially since there is still much admira-
tion for his famous article from 1910, ‘Ornement et
Crime’,
16
as well as for his historicising Viennese
adaptations. He is also admired for his provocative
entry in the 1922 Chicago Tribune competition, which
took the form of a single colossal Doric column, about
which he said, prophetically, ‘If I don’t built it, others
will’. One cannot avoid comparing Philippe Samyn’s
remarks to the mechanistic or futurist dreams that
marked the beginnings of modernism or, in a different
way, to the famous little house (since disfigured) built
in 1928 in Auderghem by Louis Herman De Koninck.
The house, through the use of facades made from
reinforced concrete beams/sheets instead of mortar
and stone blocks, brought together the aesthetic and
the technical aspects of an avant-garde that was still
unacquainted with the physics of building. The dream
of a partially dematerialised architecture can also be
seen in the work of Victor Horta, who at one point justi-
fied the metallic structure of the Tassel house through
its small footprint – the same technique used by
department stores, whose upper storeys seem to float
above a ground floor made almost entirely of glass; a
dematerialisation that has nothing to do with baroque
and rococo tastes for optical illusion.
We should point out that the technical project
expressed here by Philippe Samyn is part of one of
the great moral themes of modernism, that of the
use of materials depending on their ‘vocation’ and
performance.
17
Nevertheless, the public’s visual habits
are such that they were sometimes dismayed by the
flimsy appearance of Philippe Samyn’s framing. This is
doubtless the case with the two cylindrical buildings
discussed in Chapter 3 (the social services building
in Marolles
(01-413)
and the Eversite office build-
ing
(01-368)
).
18
Philippe Samyn’s research into wind
turbines and volume indicators is also in line with this
‘moral’ perspective.
Comparisons can also be risky. Nevertheless, Koen
Van Synghel’s very cautious introduction to Samyn &
Partners, Architects and Engineers
19
draws interest-
ing parallels with Norman Foster: ‘The architecture of
Samyn & Partners is ostensibly led by the principle of
reason. Order, a geometrical layout, complete calcula-
tion of the physics of the minimal use of materials
and their durability – all of this adds up to a sane
economic and ecological approach to construction. In
this respect, Samyn has the same approach as Norman
Foster, who upholds the idea that, since antiquity,
architecture has been, by definition, the object of con-
struction technology.
01-365
Orival service station
and bridge restaurant,
1998–1999