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In this way, just as the best writers adapt language
to fit their subject, certain architects can go from a
specialised functional expression to an apparent formal
indifference. In the case of Philippe Samyn, his most
recent and apparently serene compositions express
this situation. Thus, in the project for a primary school
in Belval, Luxembourg
(01-521)
, it is a characteristic
desire for neutrality that expresses integration into the
surrounding neighbourhood. Perhaps this relative neu-
trality can offer architecture a lifespan that most dated
demonstrations of the art cannot hope to attain.
1
Aldo Rossi, Autobiographie scientifique, Marseille, Parenthèses, 1988.
2
Paul Chemetov, 20,000 mots pour la ville, Paris, Flammarion, 1996.
3
Leonardo Benevolo, Histoire de l’architecture moderne, Paris, Dunod,
4 volumes from 1978 to 1988; Kenneth Frampton, Modern Architecture,
A Critical History, New York, Oxford University Press, 1980; Françoise
Choay, L’urbanisme, utopies et réalités, Paris, Le Seuil, 1965.
4
Henry van de Velde, ‘Suite d’idées pour une conférence’ in La Cité,
no. 10, Brussels, February 1923.
5
Le Corbusier, Vers une architecture, Paris, Crès, 1923.
6
Ludwig Hilbersheimer and Julius Vischer, Beton als Gestalter,
Stuttgart, J. Hoffmann, 1923.
01-320
Head offices of the Compagnie
Nationale à Portefeuille,
Gerpinnes, 1994-1995