READING
Celebrating VUB’s monoliths: Campus Architecture Since 1970
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ver since its formal establishment, VUB has been constructing its own architectural heritage. This property is revered and remembered in a new three-part series of books, Building the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, of which the first part, Campus Architecture Since 1970, is now available. This beautifully illustrated
trilingual coffee-table book gives an overview of the architectural styles that mark the Etterbeek and Jette sites, among others. Among the highlights of Campus Architecture Since 1970 are the images of the structural organisation of the Etterbeek campus, created by French architect Noël le Maresquier, and the construction pictures of the on-campus student housing, buildings F and G, the innovative aula Q, and rectorate building M, designed by Renaat Braem. Campus Jette, the dorms at Nieuwelaan, Campus Kaai, the ice cellars and nearly forgotten sites such as Sint-Genesius-Rode also have their place in this exhaustive book.
The first construction phase started in the early 70s, shortly after VUB’s independence from ULB. It was a time when functionalist utopianism was key and raw prefab concrete was the material of choice, its flexibility, durability and affordability incorporating the idea of progress. The second campus construction phase lasted from 1990 to 2010. A third phase has been initiated by current rector Paul De Knop. How does the brutalism of the first construction phase interact with future buildings, like those under construction along Triomflaan? There is one inclusive factor, which all VUB buildings share: their humanism. The light and transparent
materials of buildings D and E might be the opposite of the concrete of buildings F and G, but they serve the same idea of a transparent, sincere functionality. Today, a new accent has been added: buildings have started facing outward, towards Brussels, to underscore the university’s open character. ― H
WIN THIS BOOK! HENRI has five copies of Campus Architecture Since 1970 to give away. Email marcom@vub.ac.be to join the raffle. Winners will be notified in early January. HENRI DECEMBER 2015
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