House of European History | Brussels, Belgium | 2018

Architects: JSWD Architects GmbH & Co. KG
Associate Architects: Chaix & Morel et Associés
Original Architects: Michel Polak (1934-1935)
Client: European Parliament
Contractor: BCPStructural Engineers: Werber Sobek
Photographers: Christian Fabris, Christa Lachenmaier, Christian Richters, and Didier Boy de la Tour

The “George Eastman” building, which was originally built as a dental clinic in the 1930s, is located in Leopold Park at the center of the European Quarter of Brussels. The park is like a green island and covers an area of 6 hectares in the district that has seen continuous change over the past 20 years.

The development of a house of European History at this spot will bring the park and its history in line with contemporary Europe. The unity of the upgraded renovated existing buildings and the contemporary expansion constitutes a special unity between the museum, the park landscape, and the European zeitgeist of the quarter.

The newly created structures of the expansion unfold from the existing inner courtyard to the superelevation. The volume, which is encased by shimmering glass, emphasizes the presence of the museum as well as its modern character and builds an identity that can be seen as a point of reference. The free arrangement of boxes inside the glazed volume adds vivid asymmetries that contrasts the symmetrical volume of the existing building.

At daytime, the printed glass shell projects a frame over the moving inside volumetry and filters the view when looking out from inside. The sleek form of the overall volume prevails. At night the perception is reversed: the shell disappears, and the light reveals the play of the full and empty displaced, shaped volumes. The structure comes to life and is redefined by the light display. The illuminated sculpture transforms into a shining lantern within the nocturnal park.

The strong overall concept of the museum emphasizes its importance at the center of the institutions of the European quarter.