Page 15 - ELEMENTS EUROPA (EN)

ELEMENTS EUROPA 11

1 BACKLIT EUROPE

The poetic idea emanating from this movement
operation within the lines is the hypothesis of an
ample, immense and complicated yet eurhythmic
being, that of a genius-filled animal, suffering and
heaving all sighs and human ambitions.
Charles BAUDELAIRE, “ Fusées ”, XV, Œuvres complètes,

Paris, Gallimard, Bib. de la Pléiade, col. 1, 1975, p. 663.

Natural daylight illumination at Brussels, in LUX. The Europa building merges the former Residence Palace and the new
building erected on Rue de la Loi into one single building. The Europa
combines two architectures, the first of which sets up its stone Art Deco
facade and the second its monumental fence made up of wood panels.
Even better, three architectural types lean against one another or stick
together. The new building’s patchwork facade is but a foreground behind
which the great conference hall light or glass bulb appears or disappears.
This new ensemble is a double one in itself, on top of being inserted
amidst the facades of the former palace. What can be seen from the street,
revealing the Europa’s layers? Firstly, the reconstruction of its lighting
effects. The patchwork facade sets up its chain of window frames, thus
multiplying light reflection effects under the sun or transparency at dusk
by the thousands. Behind the patchwork, the opalescent lantern remains
invisible or transpires, its light at sunset or in wintertime shining by ascending
grades, like moonrise. The facades erected behind one another on both
sides of the atrium are alternatively animated, according to a contrast and
backlighting system artificial lights amplifies and nuances. By daylight, the
patchwork stands like a shiny construction, expressing the European Union’s
best dynamics, a permanent construction work; or as soon as night falls
like a translucent curtain letting the background peep through and even
sublimating itself before the atrium’s brighter lights.

The patchwork only presents the sight of its wooden lace on to the
street. Its own structure is sustained by a second steel and glass facade, the
latter ensuring strength and safety to inner spaces. Therefore, the facade
has density and depth, its glazed elements being opportunities to play with
transparency and direct or slanting luminous mirror. The composition’s