NEW HEADQUARTERS OF THE EUROPEAN PATENT OFFICE

The complex form recalls the one of a tree, opening up, with its branches, toward the city.

Project data

  • Status
    Competition
  • Year
    2004
  • Tipology
    Headquarters
  • Location
    The Hague, Holland
  • Client
    European Patent Office
  • Budget
    137 million € (adjusted to 2013)
  • Total Area/Surface/Volume
    71.000 sq m

Description

The buildings rest on a spectacular platform, the square of entry, made up of a mirror of water interrupted by coloured islands forming a suprematist image.

The same “rigorous” freedom of design of the square is felt in the positioning of the buildings, open, free… and all identical in that they emphasise the “coloured” design of the basament.

Bellini has always founded his work on an intense conversation with the figurative experiences of the 20th Century, which here turns to the example of Piet Mondrian’s figurative breakdown by signalling the marked separation of this period compared to his earlier work.

(Ermanno Ranzani)

Credits

Architect
Mario Bellini Architects

Design Team
Mario Bellini with Masahiro Matsuno

Project Team
Masahiro Matsuno (Project architect)
Luca Bosetti, Maurizio Di Lauro, Alessandro Zufferli

Consultant
Structure: Arnp Italia
Engineering: Arnp Italia