Virginie Jacobs

At the heart of the ‘Blazing City’, at the foot of the Mount Buren’s Stairs, it is the link between the lower
ward and the higher ward of the town ; between horizontality and verticality. In the neighbourhood, all is
made of empties and fulls heaping up. Imagine the courtyards and the gardens coming into sight upon
approaching the stone, brick or half-timbered houses. The blind alleys participate to the delights of Liège.
Maybe the Serrurier Bovy Foundation will find its place…

As the project fills in a space left empty and brings together the bottom and the top of the city, it intends
to preserve the site’s nature. It draws to a close the tumbling of the houses and at the same time comes
up to the horizontality of the main street. The building also redefines, as it used to be at the very
beginning, the narrowness of the ancient street leading perpendicularly to the stairs. This is how you will
discover the entrance. The play in the volumes, high and low, creates a hole, a kind of suction in the heart
of the museum such as the courtyards and gardens you would see on site. A small projection room with an
evocative prominent position overhangs the entrance which leads to the stores, the restoration workshops
and the Foundation’s entrance.

The path is simple, made up of free surfaces which guide the spectators all through their visit. Once the
upper garden has been reached, the visitor will discover simultaneously the library, the cafeteria and the
temporary exhibition hall. The green space is the perfect evidence of the particular atmosphere which
prevails in the place. It can also be reached easily, and independently from the museum access, by the
Mount Buren’s Stairs. The openings in the frontage of the building filter the incoming light and provide a
view of the Stairs. The transparency of the glazed gallery emphasizes the frontage’s dynamics and allows
the sunlight to slide along the inside walls. The terrace magnifies the view of the city of Liège.

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