2012 Boris AntoineBoris Antoine - The settled strongbox
The « settled strongbox » project emanates from three reflexions :
the fact that the university of Liege precious collection of books needs a new shelter , that the project is part of an extension of the ULg Sart Tilman campus and that the program of the project is as rare as its contents.
The project is located at the entrance of the campus on the umbilical chord connecting the city of Liege to the Sart Tilman.
Because of the importance of the task, it was necessary to prioritize the needs of such a program. The book storage functions like a fridge on three levels in a cubic form. This shape minimises surface losses. Around this cube revolves a ribbon that contains all the human functions. The ribbon is the lively part of the project in opposition to the sacred blind cube of knowledge.
At the base of the cube, the ‘ribbon’ coils along the two ground levels on the east and the west sides of the structure with a strictly limited access to the book store. It further reaches the top of the cube at 27 meters above the ground level opening into a vast terrace culminating the Sart Tilman campus with a magnificent view on the valleys of the Meuse and the Ourthe rivers. The 40 meter-high building gently competes with the more discreet University and Scientific Park projects of the Strebelle years. The project is a strong signal, a solid anchorage for the extension of the roundabout (see mass plan), a tool serving the tool. It is seen as a complement to and for the Faculty of Geography.
From its global reflexion on function and on landscape integration, this project successfully fits into the prestigious Sart Tilman architecture works.
the fact that the university of Liege precious collection of books needs a new shelter , that the project is part of an extension of the ULg Sart Tilman campus and that the program of the project is as rare as its contents.
The project is located at the entrance of the campus on the umbilical chord connecting the city of Liege to the Sart Tilman.
Because of the importance of the task, it was necessary to prioritize the needs of such a program. The book storage functions like a fridge on three levels in a cubic form. This shape minimises surface losses. Around this cube revolves a ribbon that contains all the human functions. The ribbon is the lively part of the project in opposition to the sacred blind cube of knowledge.
At the base of the cube, the ‘ribbon’ coils along the two ground levels on the east and the west sides of the structure with a strictly limited access to the book store. It further reaches the top of the cube at 27 meters above the ground level opening into a vast terrace culminating the Sart Tilman campus with a magnificent view on the valleys of the Meuse and the Ourthe rivers. The 40 meter-high building gently competes with the more discreet University and Scientific Park projects of the Strebelle years. The project is a strong signal, a solid anchorage for the extension of the roundabout (see mass plan), a tool serving the tool. It is seen as a complement to and for the Faculty of Geography.
From its global reflexion on function and on landscape integration, this project successfully fits into the prestigious Sart Tilman architecture works.
