Liège-Guillemins railway station
Liège-Guillemins train stationThe station was founded in 1863 and has been renovated several times. In 1905, the World Exhibition in Liège prompted a renovation, The Liège-Guillemins station is one of the busiest stations in Wallonia. With the trains that stop there you can easily reach Germany, France, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. The current Liège-Guillemins station was designed by the Catalan architect Santiago Calatrava.The new station was inaugurated in 2009 after 10 years of bower in an industrial and modern style. It now attracts many tourists and has become a symbol of the city and the most photographed monument in Liège.Calatrava has ensured that the large areas of the station are naturally illuminated, using glass and metal. A square has also been created in front of the entrance, restoring the entire Guillemins district, with a car park and a pedestrian bridge giving direct access to the Médiacité shopping center.From October 15, 2022 to June 15, 2024, at the initiative of the Uhoda group, which carried out this project, the Liège-Guillemins Station is the support for a major artistic project: a monumental and temporary work by Daniel Buren, the one of the most recognized French artists on the international scene.Designed in relation to the architecture of Santiago Calatrava, the work, entitled “As fallen from the sky, the colors in situ and in movement”, is deployed on all of the station’s glass roofs, through a play of colors. This monumental artistic project will be constantly moving according to the light of day, the times and the seasons. With this gesture, the artist transforms the station and invites the public to renew their view of this architecture, of the poetic possibilities of everyday life, and to discover unexpected experiences. “As if falling from the sky, the colors in situ and in movement” is based on the main vault and the two side caps of the station. DanielBuren likes to see his work as a “borrowing of the landscape”, taken from the Japanese expression “Shakkei”. For a defined period of time, the work of the artist and that of the architect form a whole. Borrowing what the work exists on and with. The checkerboard arrangement of colors allows visitors to simultaneously contemplate the evolution of the sky and that of the color projections. Allowing them to discover and understand the relationship between light and colored projection.A total immersion in color (without leaving an empty tile) would, according to the artist, lose the meaning of his work. The horizontality of the structure makes the colored projection all the more visible. Unlike stained glass windows in churches which, due to their verticality, only cause minimal projections on the ground. The result is a play of strong contrasts that is both mobile thanks to the ever-changing projections and reflections, and stable thanks to the effect of the self-adhesive stickers on the roof. Deliberately spread over more than a year, the work will be constantly moving, punctuated by the four seasons. Thus radically transforming the building and allowing a renewal of the way we look at architecture while driving a new approach.Grand Café de la GareYou wouldn't expect it: a restaurant of this level in a train station. At the beginning of the restaurant there is a brasserie.Those who love the classics are in for a treat: steak tartare, rognons de veau, blanquette de veau, anduillette, chicons au gratin and the inevitable boulets à la liegoise servis en cocotte. You sit comfortably in boxes and the service is perfectRecommended for lunch or dinner or for a good glass of Belgian beer in the brasserie.Museum zone of Liège-Guillemins stationEvery year there is a spectacular exhibition in the museum zone of Liège-Guillemins station. Take a look at the current exhibition and be surprised.
Maison Pirnay - Rue Dartois 44,
Maison Pirnay Rue Dartois 44, Liège, BelgiumBuilt 1907-1911 - Clément Pirnay architect "The house that you built for yourself testifies to an effort of sincerity and artistic loyalty that I take highly", wrote, in 1912, Victor Horta in a letter of support to Clément Pirnay for the grant a building permit. The ground floor houses a cloakroom, hall and secretariat, extending over 25 m by the architectural workshop – which will accommodate up to fourteen people – the garage and access to the photography studio in the basement.The floors are reserved to the home of the architect and his family, served by a central staircase whose metal guardrail – like that of the finely intertwined windows of the front door, a motif subsequently repeated in other projects – shares the essential design of the Viennese Secession, in particular that of the joinery of the Savings Bank in Vienna by Otto Wagner (1906).If the flat roof and the thin structural beams are made of reinforced concrete, under a combination of bricks and blue stone on the building facade reveals traditional masonry. The abundance of sculpted motifs is exceptional in the repertoire of the architect, who generally ignores them: compass and square illustrating the profession of the sponsor, winged sphinxes (loggia), cats on the lookout for lizards (terrace), wreaths of flowers at the top.“With this architect, we return to the distinctly modern, somewhat crazy idea,” writes Paul Jaspar, whose architectural studio Pirnay joined in 1898 before becoming office manager. “Let us cite his house on rue Dartois: an apartment building, with all the desirable comforts: elevator, central heating, gardens on various floors.He is also particularly amazed by the idea of the layered house, with hanging gardens. » Jaspar here alludes to the transformation of 1927, raising the house by two floors. The E.G.A.U. Group, the main player in post-war architecture in Liège, set up its offices there in 1948. The building was narrowly saved from demolition, along with the Comptoir d'Outre mer, at the end of the 1980s.
Maison Bacot / Gentry - Rue Dartois 42 - architect Clément Pirnay
The Gentry House, formerly known as the Bacot House, was designed by the Verviers architect Clément Pirnay, in collaboration with architect Paul Jaspar. It was built in 1922 and underwent a complete restoration of the facade from 2002 to 2004, led by the Liège architect Alain Dirix.This building is a beautiful example of Art Nouveau, built in reinforced concrete, its three floors decorated with Sgraffito mainly representing vines. The ground floor, whose function is commercial, was vacant for a long time. The intervention on the facade on the ground floor was limited to replacing the exterior joinery. Although the ground floor houses two different functions (trade on the left and private entrance to the upstairs apartment on the right), it has been treated symmetrically to be in line with the philosophy of the floors. Despite the simplicity, the cut, dimensions and rhythm created by the new frames form a coherent and harmonious whole.Inside, the furniture was placed far from the facade, with a view to discretion and respect for the original architecture of the building. The materials used in the company are black marble, glass and wood. With its curved shape, the counter creates both a subtle tension and an invitation to enter the business. The layout of the ground floor completes the whole discreetly, while emphasizing the original architecture designed by Clément Pirnay.Renovation/furnishing of the ground floor of Pâtisserie Jeanpierre by Bureau d'architectes sAmH sa was one of the projects nominated for the Prix du Patrimoine et du Matrimoine 2023 of the city of Liège
Maison Alexis - Rue Dartois, 31
Maison Alexis Rue Dartois, 31 - Family houseThe architect ingeniously invests the space on the ground floor and between the adjoining walls to bring to fruition a dense program, over six levels, intended for an organist. The ground floor is devoted to his office, followed by the organ room on the depth of the plot; its ceiling, made of glass blocks, becomes the terrace of the upper floor.The living spaces, each with a rear balcony, are accessed by a central staircase. Concrete floors free up space, especially the top level. The design is sober and the finishes are careful: door and grilles on the facade, concrete metal bow windows, sash frames patented by the architect, integrated wooden furniture, mosaic and granite floors.Architect: Clément Pirnay
Maison Piot (Maison des Francs-Maçons) - Rue de Sélys 17
Maison Piot (Maison des Francs-Maçons) Rue de Sélys 17, Liège, BelgiumBuilt 1904Victor Rogister architect Oscar Berchmans sculptor
Maison Gédéon Michel Rue de Rotterdam 31
Maison Gédéon Michel Rue de Rotterdam 31Architect Paul Jaspar (1899)The house was originally part of a commission for two adjacent houses - including the now lost home of the painter Émile Berchmans - as part of the Jaspar project by the owner, entrepreneur Gédéon MichelBy combining traditional and modern elements, a typical feature of the architect's working method at the time, the house presents a simplicity in the facade and in the floor plans, with concessions to the modern, by the use of industrial materials (beams supplied by the company Cockerill), which results in an innovative design that enlivens both the facade and the interior.Also because of the attention paid to hygiene and comfort requirements: the kitchen, in the basement, for example. is connected to the dining room on the ground floor via a platform lift.
Maison Rue de Rotterdam 11,
Maison Rue de Rotterdam 11, Liège, BelgiumBuilt 1904Victor Rubbers architect
Maison Questienne - Rue Sohet 13
Maison Questienne Rue Sohet 13, Liège, BelgiumBuilt 1891 - Paul Jaspar architect Paul Questienne, a civil engineer by training and road service inspector, is the sponsor of this residence built by Paul Jaspar, at the time a young architect on the rise of his professionally. A typical example of the bourgeois house, on which the new architecture must be measured on the scale of urban space, the dwelling is located at the crossroads of traditional and modern architecture.The mixed brick-iron structure introduces the use of a static model which allows major flexibility in the distribution and size of the openings; the distribution of interior spaces nevertheless remains traditional.The exterior appearance maintains historicist features – decorated stone cornices, corbel brackets – which, however, presents a boldly anti-classical design, such as the entrance door rail which blends with the front body located above.
Design Station
Creation of the Liège Design Center, allowing the public to discover the work of Liège Designers, but also allowing young designers access to a co-working space and a workshop. The Center is completed by two floors of offices for rent.The project also includes a real estate development of 13 apartments for sale or rent. (2012-2015)ALTIPLAN Architects
The Paradis Tower,
The Paradis Tower, often called the Finance Tower of Liège1, is a high-rise building built in the Guillemins district of Liège in Belgium. Its height, 118 meters - 136 with the antenna - makes it the tallest building in Wallonia. (2012-2014)It houses the approximately 1,100 finance officials employed in Liège and replaces the two old buildings of the FPS Finance, the demolition of which began in April 2015.Architects: M. & J-M.Jaspers - J.Eyers & Partners/Bureau d’Architecture Greisch@claude
Market - Rue de Fragnée 51
MARKET - LIÈGE, BELGIUMArchitects: MDW ARCHITECTURE & H+G ArchitectsMarket Rue de Fragnée 51Winner "Prize for Architecture and Urban Planning 2015" city of LiègeThis project is a new dimension and expression of economic and commercial projects that should serve as a reference and example. The project also brings real added value to the public space and the block.The jury emphasizes the quality of the rhythm of the facades, its appropriate richness, as well as the spatial quality and clarity of the spaces. Thanks to the parking spaces partly located in the basement, space can also be freed up for crossing the block.
HELMo Campus Guillemins
HELMo Campus Guillemins ÉCOLE SUPÉRIEURE2010-2013—Luc Nelles Architectes associésLuc Nelles) Ing.: Lemaire(Nicolas Michel, BEIOA :Nathalie Horion (étude chromatique) MO:HauteÉcolelibremosane
Maison - Rue Vieux Mayeur 51
Maison - Rue Vieux Mayeur 51, Liège, Belgium (1908)Architect Joseph Nusbaum @RaymondDejong & @isartnouveau
Maisons Jaspar Rue Vieux Mayeur 44,
The architect of Maison Jaspar, Paul Jaspar had a famous brother-in-law; the architect Paul Hankar, one of the leading figures of the Belgian Art Nouveau. But besides that he had also a famous second cousin, namely Bobby Jaspar (1926-1963). The birthplace of Bobby Jaspar - a Belgian jazz saxophonist / flutist, is 'Maison Jaspar'. It was built in 1906 and designed in Art Nouveau style by his great-uncle, the architect Paul Jaspar. A memorial plaque on the house commemorates this.
Maison Van der Schrick Rue - Vieux Mayeur 38,
Maison Van der Schrick - Rue Vieux Mayeur 38, Liège, BelgiumBuilt 1906Paul Jaspar architect
"Modernist" entrance gate
Surprising" modernist" entrance gate...
Résidence César Franck - Rue du Vieux-Mayeur 2
Résidence César Franck - apartment building Rue du Vieux-Mayeur 21953-1955 architect: Jean Poskin & Henri BonhommeThis building is the result of the beginning of the collaboration between Poskin and Bonhomme, two figuresset to become essential in high-rise construction. With its large terraces and large windows, the residence betrays the growing influence within the association of the young Henri Bonhomme.It includes a work by the visual artist Rets (abstract fresco in enamelled zinc) on the ground floor. The Notger I residence which faces it, presenting a rounded concrete facade, bears more of the Poskin mark, with its large curved terraces, avestige of the Art de cospirit. However, it was in the Notger I building (plastic artist J.Félix) on rue du Vieux Mayeur, the first of the whole, that the latter gave free rein to his inventiveness by erecting a resolutely modern, very open building with the structure reveals great constructive genius.
Infrabel regional headquarters Solvay space
Infrabel regional headquarters Solvay spaceLocated on a triangular plot below a railway line, the building forms a V: one of the wings faces the street, while the other runs along the rails. At the tip of the ground floor, the entrance is marked by a large opening. Its misalignment underlines the intersection of the two orientations.Further along the street, a smaller opening serves as a garage entrance. Apart from these two elements, the composition of the elevations is determined by a regular pattern of vertical windows that only a play on the splay disrupts. Each tray carries from facade to facade, no additional structure interferes with the plan, therefore extremely flexible.Reconstructing the island in which it is located, this project is effective in the simplicity of its operation as well as in its respect for its understanding of the context. The architects also created the signal box nearby, rue de Namur (2007-2011)Architect: Canevas (Stéphane Marville)
Thermoelectric power station and thermodynamic laboratory
Val BenoitAfter the First World War, the University of Liège, which had based its activities in the historic center of the city of Liège since its foundation in 1817, was looking for new spaces to accommodate the important development of science and technology education. In 1924, the University of Liège purchased eight hectares of land around the ruins of the old Val-Benoît Abbey. The construction of the Val-Benoît site by the University of Liège is being carried out under the leadership of Marcel Dehalu, professor of topography at the technical faculty. The project involves the creation of five new complexes: an institute of applied chemistry and metallurgy, an institute of mineral sciences, a thermodynamics laboratory linked to a heating plant, an institute of mechanics and an institute of civil engineering.The inauguration of the first buildings – the Institute of Chemistry and Metallurgy, the Institute of Civil Engineering, the Thermodynamics Laboratory and the Thermoelectric Power Plant – took place on November 26, 1937 in the presence of Leopold III, on the occasion of the centenary of the ' My school. The mechanical institute, still under construction, was inaugurated shortly before the Second World War. The buildings were damaged by bombing during the war between 1944 and 1945 and were restored in 1947 to mark the centenary of the Association of Graduate Engineers of the University of Liège. The site was built between 1930 and 1965 and was gradually abandoned by the University of Liège, which moved most of its activities to the Sart-Tilman campus from 1967 onwards. In 2006 the last students, the structural engineers, left the siteRehabilitationAbandoned for several years, the site received a new lease of life in the early 2000s. Some buildings were rehabilitated. This is the case of the old abbey, as well as the former Mathematics Institute, both acquired and renovated by FOREM. The Higher School of Actors (Esact) of the Royal Conservatory of Liège also occupies part of the former mathematics institute.Since 2007, the SPI, the economic development agency for the province of Liège, has been interested in this site and, in collaboration with the city of Liège and the University of Liège, has proposed a rehabilitation project called “VAL BENO!T”. While preserving most of the old university buildings and their modernist architecture, the objective of the SPI is to create an innovative economic center (light production companies, offices, business center, co-working space, etc.) with more than twenty hectares in a classic park, with a vertical layout in “company apartments”. The surrounding areas are being redeveloped with a view to creating a real urban park in this part of the city which is relatively poorly endowed with green spaces.Thermoelectric power station and thermodynamic laboratory.Built 1932 - architect Albert-Charles DuesbergMade up of finely fitted parallelepipeds, faced in bush-hammered concrete and largely glazed – some frames reaching 12m by 15m, the whole cubist-looking ensemble, whose function strictly governs the form, betrays the influence of Henry Van de Velde (Nouvelle Maison, 1928; Wolfers house, 1930).Anchored on Franki piles, the complex is topped by a chimney tower (50 m) hiding a gigantic pressure gauge. The large rooms are free plan: that of the boilers extends, without intermediate supports, over 24m long, 18m wide and 14m high; it supports three coal silos from 100t each thanks to an assembly of concrete beams (Freyssinet system).Coupled with didactic purposes with a thermodynamics laboratory, the central supplies the buildings with gas, drinking water, hot water for heating and electricity – the surplus of which could be supplied to the external distribution network – by means of underground galleries, and includes, at a height of 35m, a water tank for deal with a fire.
Le Val Benoit & Mechanics Institute university building
Mechanics Institute UNIVERSITY BUILDING 1932-1939Architect: Fernand CampusRue Ernest Solvay 21Inaugurated after the first institutes, the building is a variant of its two neighbors, in particular that of civil engineering, whose plan it adopts: a square crossed by a diagonal, with entrances placed at the ends of the axis.The framework here is entirely made of reinforced concrete. The brick facings echo those of the Institute of Chemistry, the bush hammered concrete of the thermoelectric power station. The convex glass roofs of the two entrance halls signify the originality of the building: the one inside the site is spectacular, at the junction of the wings, while, on the Solvay side, it is more discreet, sinking into the truncated corner of the angle of the square.The institute houses the Departments of machine construction and technology, internal combustion and hydraulic engines, aeronautics and aerodynamics, metrology and meteorology.
Institute of Chemistry and Metallurgy university building
Institute of Chemistry and Metallurgy university building 1930-1936Rue Armand Stévart 2 - Architect Albert PutersAlbert Puters, professor of civil architecture, adopts a language of dazzling simplicity: over the entire length of the street (100m), the main body is deployed in twenty-five bays and three levels, and is punctuated in its center by the slight drop of the reception hall and marked at the top by a monumental clock. At the ends, two 75m return wings define the interior space, linked by buildings and giving the complex the shape of an E, the light of which widely floods the different branches.Housing the analytical and industrial chemistry, electrochemistry, physicochemistry, metallurgy and steelmaking services, the building is resolutely functional: the engineer-architect provides for a clear separation of the zones according to their destination. The distribution of activities, the consideration of lighting, circulation and the fluid connections between the different zones combine to create a very efficient space, with a very readable plan for users, demonstrating a concern for harmony. , comfort and simplicity.The large laboratories, 15m in free plan, are grouped at the ends of the side wings, while the auditoriums areclassrooms are in the main one.Most of the spaces are perfectly modular, each floor constituting a huge platform once the partitions have been knocked down: this flexibility is obtained thanks to the structural metal frame, coated in reinforced concrete and driven into the ground by four hundred and twenty-six vertical and inclined Franki piles. Visible inside, the constructive system is masked on the facade by a cladding of purple bricks. The cut stone is used for the bases, the stair steps and the window sills, forming long lines which discreetly emphasize the horizontality of the whole.
Institute of Civil Engineering university building
Institute of Civil Engineering university building 1936 Quai Barning - Architect: Joseph Moutschen Very sober in its design, the Institute of Civil Engineering is undoubtedly the main monument of the site, whose "exceptional value" Henry Vande Velde will highlight. Designed by Joseph Moutschen, professor at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, it also houses the Departments of hydraulics, civil and industrial architecture, mining, topography and railway operations.Builton Franki foundations and in a mixed structure – coated metal frame and reinforced concrete superstructure, the building is remarkable for its brightness: all the premises (access halls, stairwells, circulation corridors, offices, classrooms, auditoriums) benefit from an abundance of daylight, in an ingenious spatial arrangement, for example of the large illuminated staircase has an ord by a single frame 22m high or the exhibition hall on the second floor, 20m side by two large superimposed auditoriums which cross it diagonally.At both ends, the corners accommodate entrances and vertical circulations, the interior finish of which is remarkable. The large hall on the Meuse side affects the shaped like a cube, the one overlooking the site is a rectangular parallelepiped erected in height. To punctuate the horizontality of the whole, the architect creates slender effects through a series of vertical lines: on the Meuse side, four pillars start from the access steps, supporting the concrete veil the canopy; on the other, the glass roof of the stairwell is crossed over its entire height by a blank section of wall. On the side facades, the spans are highlighted by pillars in relief.
A cup of coffee for the Tourguide
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