Page 49 - Between light and shade

Light, transparency and reflection

Without further success, in 2010, I proposed
a heliostat with an elliptical mirror to illuminate
the coffin in each ceremony room of the crema-
torium in Aalst [01/583, Fig. 32, 33 and 34] and in
2014, 232 of these to illuminate the heart of the
Guggenheim Museum in Helsinki [01/619, Fig. 35
and 36].

It was ultimately only in 2016 that I finally
succeeded in creating one at the Fire Station in
Charleroi, to channel light from the roof into the
public underground car park [01/569, Fig. 37].

Water as a mirror
Bodies of water and rivers provide the most
fascinating natural mirrors and the most extra-
ordinary light shelves (their thermal mass also
tempers the atmosphere).

They carry dreams 38 and draw light from the
earth to illuminate their banks and the buil-
dings that surround them, as in the courtyard
of the Ferme de Stassart 39 which houses my team
[01/265, Fig. 38] or the patios at the Fire Station
in Charleroi [01/569, Fig. 39].

38 As a child, my gaze would wander to the broad meander of the
Lys as it reflected the clouds, to the North of my family’s garden
in Afsnee-Gent.

39 The pond also reflects the clouds and the oak tree, which is the
same age as my team and my oldest daughter Virginie.
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