Page 56 - Between light and shade

between light and shade, TRANSPARENCy and reflection

for its occupants in the summer, (unless they
close the interior Venetian blinds!) and require
them to use artificial lighting. Consequently, I
took this opportunity to invent a system of very
large glass shutters, pivoting on their horizontal
axis (on the scale of Ancient Roman architecture:
3.6 m high, 7.2 m wide), with alternating horizon-
tal stripes, spaced out in terms of their breadth,
screen-printed on both sides and following the
sun’s trajectory. This system allows occupants to
be permanently protected from solar radiation
without being deprived of either light or a view.

The project was not completed (this buil-
ding still remains a refrigerator with its door
open after more than 50 years!) and the design
remained confidential until recently. In 2010,
I was invited to design the new head office of
AGC Europe 49 [01/577, Fig. 51 to 53] in Louvain-
la-Neuve for which I proposed this system. The
reception was enthusiastic and a patent applica-
tion was filed for the invention 50, which enabled
me to develop the concept in the form of louvre
slats, which completely protect the four facades

49 Asahi Glass Company acquired a stake in Glaverbel in 1981,
whilst allowing it broad autonomy in terms of management.
See: Philippe Samyn and Jan De Coninck AGC Glass
Building, Tielt, Lannoo, 2014 (available as an e-book, at
www.samynandpartners.com).

50 The Belgian patent application was filed on 2012.01.09 and the
international patent application on 2013.01.09.
56