A footbridge of Sighs. Tondo by OFFICE Kersten Geers David Van Severen
07/02/2022.
[Brussels] Belgium
metalocus, JAVIER ARIAS
metalocus, JAVIER ARIAS
"Tondo" is artful footbridge, that connects the first floor of the Parliament building of the Palais de la Nation with the second floor of the new "Forum" building, designed by architecture practice located in Brussels, Office Kersten Geers David Van Severen.
It sits in Brussel’s government district, and was designed more as a spatial element than as a technical solution, the bridge offers an amazing walk around a closed outdoor space that also functions as a meeting place, between the two facades.
It sits in Brussel’s government district, and was designed more as a spatial element than as a technical solution, the bridge offers an amazing walk around a closed outdoor space that also functions as a meeting place, between the two facades.
View from the street. Tondo by OFFICE Kersten Geers David Van Severen. Photograph by Bas Princen
View from the street. Tondo by OFFICE Kersten Geers David Van Severen. Photograph by Bas Princen
View from the street. Tondo by OFFICE Kersten Geers David Van Severen. Photograph by Bas Princen
View from the supporting building. Tondo by OFFICE Kersten Geers David Van Severen. Photograph by Bas Princen
View from the supporting building. Tondo by OFFICE Kersten Geers David Van Severen. Photograph by Bas Princen
View from inside. Tondo by OFFICE Kersten Geers David Van Severen. Photograph by Bas Princen
View from inside. Tondo by OFFICE Kersten Geers David Van Severen. Photograph by Bas Princen
View from inside. Tondo by OFFICE Kersten Geers David Van Severen. Photograph by Bas Princen
View from the street. Tondo by OFFICE Kersten Geers David Van Severen. Photograph by Bas Princen
Site plan. Tondo by OFFICE Kersten Geers David Van Severen.
Floor plan. Tondo by OFFICE Kersten Geers David Van Severen.
Roof plan. Tondo by OFFICE Kersten Geers David Van Severen.
Section. Tondo by OFFICE Kersten Geers David Van Severen.
Section. Tondo by OFFICE Kersten Geers David Van Severen.
Named "Tondo" bys its shaped like a ring, by Office Kersten Geers David Van Severen, follows the tradition of the ‘Tondo’, very popular circular renaissance paintings. It is not the first time that they have experimented with ring-shaped structures, as happened with their open proposal for Solo House in Teruel, Spain, in 2017.
However “Tondo” is from a distance an abstract work closed to curious eyes and whose mirrored panel cladding surface reflects its urban surroundings. Only as you approach the glazed interior space is revealed.
A generous walk around an enclosed outer space, which also functions as a meeting space. At the same time, the ‘detour’ also allows the height difference between both buildings to be bridged by means of a single, accessible slope of 4%.
The project has 20 meter span. Its shape of a tilted disc, in structural terms, it works as steel roof structure is exposed and reinforced on the upper side with vertical reinforcement of varying thickness. The glass panels as well as the lower floor slab are suspended from it, and as the supporting points connecting the roof and the existing building to one another are not visible this creates the illusion of a hovering ring.
However “Tondo” is from a distance an abstract work closed to curious eyes and whose mirrored panel cladding surface reflects its urban surroundings. Only as you approach the glazed interior space is revealed.
A generous walk around an enclosed outer space, which also functions as a meeting space. At the same time, the ‘detour’ also allows the height difference between both buildings to be bridged by means of a single, accessible slope of 4%.
The project has 20 meter span. Its shape of a tilted disc, in structural terms, it works as steel roof structure is exposed and reinforced on the upper side with vertical reinforcement of varying thickness. The glass panels as well as the lower floor slab are suspended from it, and as the supporting points connecting the roof and the existing building to one another are not visible this creates the illusion of a hovering ring.
View from inside. Tondo by OFFICE Kersten Geers David Van Severen. Photograph by Bas Princen.
Project description by Office Kersten Geers David Van Severen
‘Tondo’ is a footbridge that connects the House of Representatives’ offices with its recent extensions, the new Forum Building, on the other side of the Leuvensestraat in the centre of Brussels. The bridge was explicitly designed as a spatial element, rather than a technical solution.
Named after the tradition of the ‘Tondo’, a circular renaissance painting, it’s shaped like a ring, and tucked between the two facades. There is a generous walk around an enclosed outer space, which also functions as an escape and meeting space. At the same time, the ‘detour’ also allows the height difference between both buildings to be bridged by means of a single, accessible slope of 4%.
Towards the city, the bridge shows itself as a ‘closed’ element, in the tradition of, for example, the Bridge of Sighs. Coated with mirrored panels, they reflect the facades of both the Forum building and Parliament. From closer she shows through the opening a subtle view of the passages between the two buildings.
Structurally, the bridge can be described as a stiff disc, the roof, on which the floor hangs with a minimal presence of structure: a near ephemeral pavilion between the buildings. Viewed from above, however, the sculptural beam game of the structure is visible: an ‘eye’ on the world.
More information
Architects
Project team
Bert Rogiers, Steven Bosmans, Stefaan Jamaer, Enea Facoetti.
Collaborators
Structural engineering.- Bollinger + Grohmann, Kenny Verbeeck en Brecht Van De Velde.
Engineering.- Henk Pijpaert Engineering.
Engineering.- Henk Pijpaert Engineering.
Client
Chambre des Représentants Fédéraux Belges. The Federal Government of Belgium.
Area
Usable floor area.- 105 m².
Span.- 20 m.
Span.- 20 m.
Dates
Year began.- 2018.
Completion.- 2020.
Location
Rue Louvain, Brussels, Belgium.
LatLng.- (50.84749189999999, 4.3654526).
Cost
986,000 €/m².
Award
Competition, 1st prize. In cooperation with Bollinger + Grohmann (Stability Studies).
Photography
Bas Princen.
OFFICE Kersten Geers David Van Severen
Office Kersten Geers David Van Severen was founded in 2002 by Kersten Geers and David Van Severen. Since its establishment, Office Kersten Geers David Van Severen has earned a reputation as one of Belgium’s most successful and renowned practices, and one of the world’s truly original voices in present-day architecture. Office engages in all architectural and urbanist design, creating projects of all scales ranging from furniture to master planning in Belgium as well as internationally. This practice is combined with academic research and teaching. These two aspects of Office’s work are explicitly each other’s mirror, creating unexpected parallels between academic and practical work.
Kersten Geers (Ghent, 1975), graduated in Architecture and Urbanism at the University of Ghent, Belgium, and the Esquela Tecnica Superior de Arquitectura in Madrid, Spain. He worked with Maxwan Architects and Urbanists and with Neutelings Riedijk Architects in Rotterdam. He was a professor at the University of Ghent, and visiting professor at Columbia University, NYC, and the Academy of Architecture in Mendrisio (CH), and is currently teaching at the EPFL, Lausanne (CH), and Harvard Graduate School of Design (US). He is a founding member of the architecture magazine San Rocco.
David Van Severen (Ghent, 1978), graduated in Architecture and Urbanism at the University of Ghent, Belgium, and the Esquela Tecnica Superior de Arquitectura in Madrid, Spain. Since 1995 he designed and made several objects, installations, and furniture. He worked with Stéphane Beel Architects, Xaveer De Geyter Architects, and Atelier Maarten Van Severen. He was a teacher and guest critic at the Academy of Amsterdam, the TU Delft, the Berlage Institute in Rotterdam (NL), and the Architecture School of Versailles (FR), and he’s currently guest tutor at Harvard Graduate School of Design (US).
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