2001 was ‘awarded’ 4th and last place in a selected competition for a regional cultural attractivity center in Belvaux.

The brief asked to plan a building on a bought plot next to an existing heritage cultural center. A building aiming at housing a museum for  puzzles / brain-teasers as well as the entrance to a summer bob-sledge track.

2001’s proposal investigated the possibilities of using the bought plot for a more dynamic and urgent use, and developed a short- and long-term strategy for implementing social-student housing in a village that will host the University of Luxembourg.

In order to fully comply to the program of the brief, the proposal was sunken underground, directly linking the various functions and spaces. Putting the heritage building on a valorizing plinth towards the street, the critical mass of the building vanished in the natural landscape, determining its uses solely by a set of patios, of  landscape cut-outs.

Apart for the topographic integration, the reason of sinking the building was the control of lighting qualities, offering diffuse natural light and a scenography of various intensities, as well as guaranteeing the ergonomically best suited spaces and environments.

A last place in a competition can be cause for disappointment, or on the contrary, a ‘reward’ for a radical approach and design.