PROGRAM

In this chapter, the mixed program around the architectural culture will be presented. It will look at all the different functions that frame the discipline and the possible interactions with the public or between the actors themselves. Then, a surface analysis of the program and surfaces for the architecture faculty will be presented.

The Chiroux library and cultural centre were the biggest public library in Wallonia and were at the time a very important cultural place in the city. Since the authority announced in 2018 the intention to move the library in a new building further from the centre it is high time to redefine a new identity for this great piece of modern brutalist architecture in town. Close to Liège University headquarter and just a street from the St Paul Cathedral, this place aspires to become an important cultural area for creation. The architecture faculty, who is actually in deep mutation, perfectly aims to regenerate the neighbourhood. But the complexity of the building tends to add other functions and aims at creating a cultural hub. Architecture becomes more than a program, it becomes a vibrant identity for the modernist ensemble.

The Kennedy ensemble meta-structure allows to create a rich program with several actors that could really find their place in such a project. Indeed, the idea is to create a dynamic place where those actors could meet together and share with the public. The difference actors are almost all involved into the architectural culture from the education to the promotion and the decision making. The project would gather the following functions and protagonists :

Architecture faculty for the University of Liège : Since the merger of the two highschools for architecture in Liège (Institut Lambert Lombard and the Ecole supérieure d’architecture de Saint Luc), in 2010, into one single faculty of architecture for the University of Liège, the faculty goes through many complications to create a real program to suit perfectly for the education of architecture. Moreover, since the merge, the courses are spread on the two former buildings that are not appropriate to nowadays expectations of an architecture faculty. Following the election of Jaques Defer (dates unknown) as the director of the faculty in 2019, the faculty is in deep mutation. The Kennedy ensemble constitutes a prime location for the renew of the faculty due to its flexible structures, wide modernist architecture and place in the city. Indeed, the building is located in the main axis of the rue de l’Université, with the headquarter of University, the recent auditoriums for the University close to the Royal Opera; and the Zoology Institute where the University has some laboratories and a big auditorium. The ensemble seems finally the best place, in the historical centre, to create a new architecture faculty.

Exhibition space : It is important in an architecture hub to have a large space dedicated to exhibition in order to share the discipline with the public. The exhibition space would allow to present the architecture student works but also to organise some external exhibitions.

Auditorium : Several conference cycles could be organised by the protagonists of the project, and the faculty, who will mostly use the recent auditoriums close-by could also use the auditorium for many occasions.

Liège Bouwmeester Office : In 2019, the authority announced the intention to create a Bouwmeester office for Liège Métropole as already exist in Flanders, Charleroi and Brussels. The Bouwmeester function would be an important character of the project as this position would become a major actor in the politic of the city, but also the figure of the architectural identity for Liège. urbAgora association : They are a prominent association in Liège organising, documenting and nourish the urban debate. The association founded in 2008 in the city organise some debates, workshops and small exhibition about urbanism.

Institut Culturel d’Architecture WallonieBruxelles (ICA WB) : The cultural institute has the role to promote the architectural culture in Wallonia and Brussels region. They organise several events such as workshops, conferences, reflexions debates, exhibitions and would find in this project a valuable work space with all the infrastructures needed to promote the architectural culture. Association Royale des Architectes de Liège (ARALG) : The association founded in 1891, gather almost 150 architects in the region of Liège. They organise some meetings almost every month to exchange, meet some professionals, share experience and welcome the young architects in the working life.

Library : Important for the faculty but also interesting towards the architectural culture promotion ambitions, a public library with a collection of publications in the field of architecture, art, history, urbanism or design; participates to the cultural aspirations of the project.

Art class : This space part of the architecture faculty also have the potential to live at several moment of the day, some craft workshops could be organised for external groups in the evening or during the weekend.

This mixed program has the aim to give a new breath to the Kennedy ensemble and wants to give a clear identity to the neighbourhood. Those protagonists of the architectural culture gathered in one place would foster a positive sense of emulation and create a real hub in one of the most beautiful piece of modernist architecture in Liège.