The square in front of the Justice Palace in Brussels could one day feature a giant mirror-pool, according to the city councillor in charge of town planning, Geoffroy Coomans, interviewed in La Capitale. The pool, he said, would bring some grandeur to the square, currently featuring parking spaces and tram-lines.
Last week it was announced that the Justice Palace itself, which seems to have been under scaffolding forever, will be done with renovations and repairs only in 2040.
The mirror pool, based on the Miroir d’Eau landmark in Bordeaux in France, would consist of dark stone regularly watered to a depth of only a few millimetres – just enough to create a mirror effect. The Justice Palace would obviously be one of the major features of the reflecting pool, which he said would present no obstruction to the passing trams.
Coomans already has, he said, the interest of several colleagues for the idea, and however far in the future the plan may come to fruition, aims to start building a base of public support for the idea. Unfortunately, the Place Poelaert is generally considered an urban wasteland, and the Justice Palace – designed by Joseph Poelaert – although architecturally monumental, has always been the object of local people’s disdain, giving rise to the existence of “architect” as an insult by the people of the Marolles, the district in the shadow, literally, of the building.
Alan Hope
The Brussels Times
