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I began to know and appreciate Philippe Samyn
from our first meetings in the classrooms of the
Institut d’Urbanisme of the Université Libre de
Bruxelles. It was May 1968; young people were
throwing off conventions and everything was open
to question. But Philippe and I were rather resist-
ant to the excesses around us, because we could
not imagine living life except in a constructive way.
A trip to Japan in 1970 showed us that it was possible
to respond to human needs in a way that was com-
pletely different to what we were used to in Belgium.
With rucksacks on our backs and staying in youth
hostels, we travelled across the country over a period
of six weeks, discovering the beauty of its architecture
and the warmth of its people. We climbed Mount Fuji
in the company of directors of psychological services
for the American army in Vietnam, we learned from a
Buddhist monk the basic principles of his philosophy
and way of life, and we observed the violent winds of a
tornado and its devastating aftermath. We also visited
several building sites designed to withstand tornadoes
and earthquakes. Little by little, there grew up between
us a profound friendship that neither life’s highs nor
lows, nor time’s passage has weakened. Our many
subsequent professional connections led me to accept
enthusiastically Philippe Samyn’s invitation to write this
contribution. It is based on our discussions about the
‘engineering’ aspect of his activities, which he profitably
incorporates into his role as architect.
A FORTY-YEAR FRIENDSHIP
THE ART OF
THE ENGINEER
Pierre Spehl, civil engineer
Seco – Technical Control Bureau
for Construction
1
Principal technical coordinator
of Seco for fire safety, dynamic effects
and standardisation
Lecturer at
ulb
and the
enpc
2
Head of the Belgian delegation
for the Eurocodes at the
cen
3
Project for a school
of architecture, Lubumbashi
(01-537)