Collection

Magasin à livres (Bookshop)

  • Date 1962-1964
  • Address Chemin du Silence, 2 – 4031 Liège

Historically housed in a wing of the former Jesuit convent in the city centre, the university’s new library marked the first step in the great adventure that was the Sart Tilman campus. When Rector Marcel Dubuisson commissioned Charles Vandenhove, he was making a strong statement in support of the emerging Belgian architectural scene of the time. Thus, from 1960 to 1985, under the leadership of Claude Strebelle, the coordinating architect, several iconic figures such as Roger Bastin and André Jacqmain took part in one of the most iconic projects in the history of 20th-century Belgian architecture. And Charles Vandenhove was the architect who laid the foundation stone.

Built away from the campus site – for which the development plan has not yet been finalised – the library is situated close to the land set aside for the University Hospital. With its grass-covered roof terraces, the 3,200 m2 building blends discreetly into the wooded hillside, following the contour lines of the land. The lower level houses the bookshop and various service areas. Above, set back from the front, the middle and upper floors follow one another and are dedicated to book storage. The top floor was originally conceived as a multi-purpose space. Entirely glazed, it is designed as a reading area that can also host exhibitions or conferences. The space is covered by a thin concrete shell composed of hyperbolic paraboloid-shaped shells supported by slender concrete columns. As in previous projects, notably Inichar and the house on Rue Chauve-Souris, the path ensuring the transition between the buildings and the natural environment is a key consideration for the architect. Two staircases, dominated by brickwork, provide access to the path leading to the Route de Tilff on the one hand, and to the entrance esplanade on the other. The combination of brick and concrete plays on materials and textures – celebrated within simple volumes. Natural light in the upper volume is provided by a long horizontal window, the sequence of wooden frames in which is reminiscent of that in the Inichar test hall; both projects implicitly reference Alvar Aalto’s Säynätsalo Town Hall, dating from 1951.

  • Description of the collection

    Plans, furniture, documentation, specifications, photographic records…
  • Volumetry 4 archive boxes (0.48 m)
  • Bibliography

    Bibliothèque de l’Université de Liège, plaquette éditée à l’occasion de l’inauguration de la section du Sart Tilman, Liège, Université de Liège, 1965.

    Numéro spécial consacré à l’architecte Ch. Vandenhove, La Maison, n° 5, May 1967, p. 145-147.
  • AUTHOR AND DATE OF THE ENTRY Sébastien Charlier, 2021