Seat of the European Parliament in Strasbourg

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Immeuble du Parlement Européen 4 (IV), IPE 4 (IV), Immeuble Louise Weiss

The architects were inspired by Roman amphitheatres [1]
Building
Type Debating Chamber and MEP offices
Architectural Style Contemporary
Location Strasbourg, France
Owner European Union
Coordinates 48°35′51″N 7°46′08″E / 48.597401, 7.768825 (Louise Weiss building)
Construction
Completed 14 December 1999[2]
Height 60 m (tower)
Diameter 100 m (tower)
Other Dimensions Hemicycle inside : l. = 56 m, w. = 44 m, h. = 15 m
Floor Count 20 (17 above-ground levels, 3 sub-ground levels)
Floor Area 220,000 m²
Main Contractor S.E.R.S. [3]
Design Team
Architect Architecture Studio Europe : Martin Robain, Rodo Tisnado, Jean-François Bonne, Alain Bretagnolle René-Henri Arnaud, Laurent-Marc Fischer and Gaston Valente [4]
Structural engineer Gpci
Other designers Sogelerg Ote Serue Etf

The town of Strasbourg, France, is the official seat of the European Parliament which meets there for twelve sessions a year lasting about four days each.[5]

Contents

[edit] Area

The European Parliament owns four buildings of moderately large to very large size in the Quartier Européen, a huge area spread over three Strasbourg districts (Wacken, Orangerie and Robertsau) in the north-west of the city[6] where they coexist with the seven main buildings of the Council of Europe, the headquarters of Arte and the seat of the International Institute of Human Rights. European building in the area started as early as 1949, with the erection of the "House of Europe" (see below).

November 14, 2007 saw the extension of the Strasbourg tramway into the European Quarter, with the opening of the Parlement Européen tram station.[7] While the Council of Europe has seen two new buildings being inaugurated in 2006 and 2008, the European Parliament has constructed no new buildings in Strasbourg since 1999.

[edit] Complex

[edit] Louise Weiss

The Louise Weiss building is located in the Wacken district of Strasbourg, south of Schiltigheim, between the 1920s worker's suburban colony (Cité ouvrière) Cité Ungemach and the 1950s buildings of the Strasbourg fair, some of which had to be torn down in order to make way for the Immeuble du Parlement européen 4, its technical name. Built at a cost of 470 million euros at the intersection of the Ill and the Marne-Rhine Canal, it houses the hemicycle for plenary sessions, the largest of any European institution (750 seats - expanded to 785 - for MEPs and 680 for visitors),[8] 18 other assembly rooms as well as a total of 1133 parliamentary offices.

The courtyard inside the tower
The courtyard inside the tower

With its surface of 220,000m² and its distinctive 60m tower,[9] it is one of the biggest and most visible buildings of Strasbourg. The Louise Weiss was designed by the Paris-based team of architects Architecture Studio Europe. After the project was approved at an international contest in 1991, work, commissioned by the Société d'Aménagement et d'Équipement de la Région de Strasbourg on behalf of the Urban Community of Strasbourg, started a few years later, with up to twelve cranes at the time on what was one of the biggest building sites of the decade in Europe. The inauguration of the building took place on 14 December 1999 by French President Jacques Chirac and Parliament President Nicole Fontaine.

Louise Weiss, tramway and European Court of Human Rights seen from the Agora Building of the Council of Europe
Louise Weiss, tramway and European Court of Human Rights seen from the Agora Building of the Council of Europe

The voluntarily unfinished aspect of the tower carries heavy symbolism, as it is oriented eastwards, i.e. towards eastern Europe, of which by the time of the completion of the building no country had yet entered the EU. Urban legends of mostly eschatological inspiration have it that the building was designed after Pieter Brueghel the Elder's paintings of the Tower of Babel (the Vienna version rather than the Rotterdam version).[10] Allegedly, both the painting(s) and the building were inspired by the ruins of the Colosseum.[11]

Through a covered footbridge over the Ill, the Louise Weiss communicates with the Winston Churchill and Salvador de Madariaga buildings.

[edit] Winston Churchill and Salvador de Madariaga

Statue "Abduction of Europa" in front of the Winston Churchill building
Statue "Abduction of Europa" in front of the Winston Churchill building

The Winston Churchill building (48°35′44″N 7°46′12″E / 48.595507, 7.769925 (Winston Churchill building)) (IPE 1) is located across the river on Avenue President Schuman, in the Orangerie district. It houses administration and support facilities. The Salvador de Madariaga building (48°35′42″N 7°46′06″E / 48.595074, 7.768294 (Salvador de Madariaga building)) (IPE 2), along Quai du Bassin de l'Ill, is located next to the Winston Churchill building. Both buildings actually form one single complex with a surface of 58,400m², built at a cost of 81 million euros[12]. and designed in a modernistic style characterised by a convoluted, serpentine architecture, a relative height and fassades of dark glass.[13], [14]

Salvador de Madariaga (right) across the river from Louise Weiss (left)
Salvador de Madariaga (right) across the river from Louise Weiss (left)

The buildings were at the centre of controversy regarding overpayment of rent.[15] They were eventually bought by the Parliament in 2006.[16]

In October 2007 it was discovered that the buildings contained a larger amount of asbestos than previously thought before they were purchased. However the amount is still not deemed to be a public health risk and is limited to certain areas. The previous owner of the building may be responsible for finding and removing the asbestos within the building. This was not the first such incident as bacteria causing Legionnaires has been discovered in the water system of the complex after a number of officials reported in ill. The bacteria had been allowed to develop due to the Strasbourg complex being used only four months of the year.[17]

[edit] Pierre Pflimlin

From left to right: Louise Weiss, Winston Churchill, Pierre Pflimlin and Council of Europe buildings
From left to right: Louise Weiss, Winston Churchill, Pierre Pflimlin and Council of Europe buildings

The heart-shaped, comparatively low building at the crossing of Avenue du Président Robert Schuman and Allée Spach (IPE 3) (48°35′42″N 7°46′13″E / 48.595031, 7.770314 (Pierre Pflimlin building)), built in the early 1990s as a press and media center (Centre de presse et d'information) at a cost of 38 million euros[18], has been given the name of Pierre Pflimlin on July 6, 2007 [19]. The smallest of the buildings (21,000 m²), it is also the only one not to be next to the river or the canal. It now houses among other things the translation staff.

[edit] Former buildings

The Palace of Europe was used by Parliament between 1977 and 1999. It replaced the Maison de l'Europe, which was located where there is now a lawn leading up to the Palace.
The Palace of Europe was used by Parliament between 1977 and 1999. It replaced the Maison de l'Europe, which was located where there is now a lawn leading up to the Palace.

The present buildings were constructed due to the enlargement of the European Union in 1995 (and the planned enlargement to the east in 2004). Due to the new members, the Parliament needed a larger hemicycle to hold debates, and more offices for MEPs. Prior to this, Parliament shared the facilities of the Council of Europe, who had build a hemicycle in their headquarters: the Palace of Europe. That hemicycle was inaugurated for the Parliament's use, and for the use of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, on January 28, 1977.

However, the sharing of this chamber could cause confusion for TV-audiences unsure which institution was using it at the time. This was exacerbated by the EU and the Council of Europe both using the same flag, although the two did use their own emblems as well.

Before the Palace of Europe was built in 1977, the two institutions also shared the Maison de l'Europe ("House of Europe") from 1958.[20] The Maison was a provisory concrete building of purely functional architecture[21][22] and was inaugurated in 1950. It stood where there is now a lawn leading up to the Palace of Europe.[23][24]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Official press release
  2. ^ The European Parliament's Louise Weiss Building in Strasbourg
  3. ^ S.E.R.S website
  4. ^ Official press release
  5. ^ European Parliament calendar 2007
  6. ^ Aerial view of the Europarl buildings
  7. ^ http://www.mairie-strasbourg.fr/Templates/071109_IP_Prolongement_E.rtf?FileID=presse%2f071109_ip_prolongement_e.rtf
  8. ^ Cost of the building and number of seats
  9. ^ Figures about the building
  10. ^ A Modern Tower of Babel
  11. ^ Eschatologie: Pourquoi avoir choisi Strasbourg pour y installer le Parlement Européen?
  12. ^ Parlement Européen (IPE 0, 1 et 2)
  13. ^ Salvador de Madariaga seen from the river
  14. ^ Winston Churchill seen from the river
  15. ^ 2004 discharge: sharp criticism but support for purchase of Strasbourg buildings europarl.europa.eu
  16. ^ Draft Report from the Budgetary Control Committee
  17. ^ Kubosova, Lucia EU parliament buildings searched for asbestos, EU Observer 2007-10-17
  18. ^ Centre Européen de Presse et d’Information - SERS - Société d’Aménagement et d’Equipement de la Région de Strasbourg
  19. ^ Press release
  20. ^ 50 years of the European Parliament - evolution, powers, policies, presidents and elections
  21. ^ Maison de l'Europe (Strasbourg, 1950-1977)
  22. ^ Inside of the hemicycle
  23. ^ House of Europe and Palace of Europe in 1976
  24. ^ Aerial view of the House of Europe

[edit] External links

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