Architecture School in Tournai
Aires Mateus
Tournai, Belgium
The prestigious Portuguese studio Aires Mateus, known for its white architecture of pure volumes, is the author of the architecture school of Tournai, where light and dialogue with adjacent buildings are handled with extreme delicacy.

Connecting the structures of two industrial constructions to a convent previously used as a hospital, the Faculty of Architecture of Tournai rises within a historical city block, amid buildings of different identities and periods. Continuing the street alignment, it stands out because of the simplicity, precision, and purity of its skin of exposed concrete.

Inside, the side sheds contain the classrooms and the library, and the old hospital has been repurposed for administrative offices. On the other hand, the more public parts of the program – including the auditorium and the foyer – fall within the new volume, serving as gathering places and as circulation elements. It is this connection function that characterizes the new construction, which links up all the school’s spaces both vertically and horizontally.

The abstraction of the exterior extends to the interior, which is likewise rendered in exposed concrete, with the result that the spaces gives the impression of purity.
 

Image number 32 of the current section of Architecture School in Tournai of Cosentino USA
© Tim van de Velde
Image number 33 of the current section of Architecture School in Tournai of Cosentino USA
© Tim van de Velde
Image number 34 of the current section of Architecture School in Tournai of Cosentino USA
© Tim van de Velde
Image number 35 of the current section of Architecture School in Tournai of Cosentino USA
© Tim van de Velde
Image number 36 of the current section of Architecture School in Tournai of Cosentino USA
© Tim van de Velde
Image number 37 of the current section of Architecture School in Tournai of Cosentino USA
Image number 38 of the current section of Architecture School in Tournai of Cosentino USA
Image number 39 of the current section of Architecture School in Tournai of Cosentino USA
Image number 40 of the current section of Architecture School in Tournai of Cosentino USA
Image number 41 of the current section of Architecture School in Tournai of Cosentino USA
© Tim van de Velde

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