1991年，在城市建设热潮席卷全球的氛围中，法国AS建筑工作室遇到了一个极为重大的竞赛项目——欧洲议会大厦。九十年代的建筑风格多样交织，工作室希望打破当时千篇一律的 “直线建筑” ，面对近22万平方米的项目，建筑师们从场地与文脉背景出发，思考使用者与建筑及地区特征的联结。

In 1991, the urban construction boom sweeping the world, architecturestudio encountered a significant competition project — the European Parliament building. Back in the 90s, the architectural styles were diverse, our architects tried to break the stereotypical “linear architecture” and started from the site and context： How should they consider the connection between the user and the building and the regional character for a nearly 220,000 square meters project?

▼室外鸟瞰，exterior aerial view

项目位于法国阿尔萨斯地区的斯特拉斯堡，它是法国最大的边境城市，紧邻德国小镇凯尔。历史上由于其核心的交通地位经历过数次的主权更替，二战后这里自然而然地作为和解的象征来承接这座新兴的欧洲机构。欧洲议会大厦作为世界上最大的议会建筑，总投资4.7亿欧元，施工耗时四年半。当时项目被命名为路易丝·魏斯大楼，用来纪念这位著名的法国作家和女权主义者，同时也是首届欧洲议会的议员。

The project is in Strasbourg in the Alsace region of France, the largest border city in France and is close to the German town of Kehl. After World War II, Strasbourg naturally became a symbolic city with its history and culture that several changes of sovereignty and significant traffic fortified town. A symbol of reconciliation for a new European institution. As the world’s largest Parliament, the European Parliament building took four and a half years with a total investment of 470 million euros. The building was also named Louise Weiss Building, in honor of this famous French writer and feminist, who was also a member of the first European Parliament.

▼总平面图，site plan

联结文化

Connecting Culture

欧洲议会是一个跨国民主权力机构，想在一个项目中兼容各个国家的建筑风格显然是不现实的。所以在设计过程中，工作室通过对欧洲的历史和文脉符号进行深入研究，终于找到两个关键的符号：代表古典主义的圆形和代表巴洛克风格的椭圆形。两者展现了从伽利略到开普勒，从单中心结构到多中心结构，从中央集权到世界多极化的过渡。

The European Parliament is a transnational democratic authority, it is unrealistic if we try to combine the architectural styles of different countries in a single project. After the research of European history and site context, the studio finally used two keys: the circle representing classicism and the oval from the Baroque style. The two shapes show the transition from Galileo to Kepler, from monocentric to multicentric, and from centralization to a multipolar world.

▼过程图纸，process plan

这两个符号在空间中构建出巧妙的联系。场地的最中心是由塔楼定义的圆形，塔楼上的各国代表团办公室包围着椭圆形的入口中庭。塔楼高约60m，顶部看似未完成的设计代表欧盟开放的态度，与远处市中心的历史遗产——斯特拉斯堡大教堂遥相呼应，形成时空的对话。中庭在城市与大厦之间打开一个过渡空间同时椭圆的主轴一直延伸至跨河的人行天桥，连接对岸的温斯顿·丘吉尔大楼。

The two symbols shaped an artful connection in space. The round tower contains the offices of delegations at the center, and encircles an oval shape entrance atrium. The tower is about 60 meters high, and the seemingly unfinished design at the top represents the open-minded European Union. It echoes the historical heritage of the city center — Strasbourg Cathedral, forming a dialogue over time and space. The atrium is more like a transition between the city and the building, and the axis of the ellipse extends to the pedestrian bridge across the river, connecting the Winston Churchill Building on the opposite river bank.

▼圆形广场，agora