Journal

"Know How" is a book and a photo exhibition. 40 encounters put into words and pictures, 40 exceptional Brussels craftsmen who tell us about their lives, their anecdotes and their passion for their trade.

To mark the beginning of the new TV season, the news channel LN24 welcomed the Brussels architect. In this interview with Joan Condijts, the channel's CO, Francis Metzger talks about some of his projects. He also talks about his work as an architect and teacher and discusses in particular the question of building a new national stadium on the Heysel plateau.

Among other missions, Francis Metzger worked on the Autrique house and on the Central Station, but also in the frame of the works of the contemporaries of Victor Horta, his masters, his peers, his heirs...  In the frame of the summer school organised by the faculty of architecture La Cambre Horta of the ULB, the brussels architect delivers a conference, to be followed on line on September 2nd. Info and free registration here.

At Ma2 projects follow one another. Sketches, measurements, submissions, ongoing projects, receptions... Every stage at its own pace, each step at its own time. There are all those files already planned. And then, all those not yet realised, that we still dream of... It’s full of promises one summer.

An article by Cécile Cannesson, architect at Ma2, published in “Bruxelles Patrimoines » whose last issue is devoted to the theme: Air, Heat, Light.

Not only do we re-open, but we hire !
Thank you for sharing.

"According to architect Francis Metzger, the construction site should be completed by the end of 2022. "A look back at the saga and the agenda for the renovation of the legendary hotel. An article by Marc Beaudelot, published in La Capitale on Saturday 9 May.

A competition that rewards the most beautiful projects from public tenders.The nominated projects are: the Saint-Servais church in Schaerbeek (in the Heritage and Architecture category) and the secure doors of the Brussels Palace of Justice (in the Security & Safety category). You can vote too!

Whether it is to renovate, to restore, to rehabilitate, to work on old, or on the contrary, to create according to new programmes, the philosophy that presides at Ma2 lies in the right equation between a place, a programme and a given moment.  

In view of the historical value of this cottage which dates from 1937 and the degradation of its environment, brought by its transformation into offices and the construction of annexes built between 1980 and 1991, it was imagined a return to its original function, in this case housing.

A magnificent project which, at its end, should equip Charleroi with a new university pole, our Zénobe Gramme mission has just entered the invitation to tender phase.

Originally conceived as a concert hall and a festive celebration space for Brussels residents, the Aegidium could, at the end of its renovation, be invested by the “Théâtre Le Public”. 

“The restorations (...) are designed (...) in such a way to be both identifiable to an informed eye and almost elusive when they are offered to the eye, specifies Francis Metzgerin these 6 pages devoted to the Maison Saint-Cyr in the last issue of Historical houses and gardens. An article signed by Donatienne de Séjournet.

It is “rather like writing a second volume at the very heart of the first. A rare and complex exercise” explained in three pages in the last Plan Magazine.
 

Francis Metzger and the Ma² team wish you all the best for 2020; a year again and always placed under the sign of curiosity and passion for details, the love of the work well done and with a personal touch. The nuance ... that makes the difference.

Renovation to the question for the Palace of Justice and in the process of being completed for the “Galerie Louise”, soon underway for the Tournay-Solvay Castle, completely achieved for the Charle-Albert Castle and the Saint-Cyr House..

“The impression of the renovated “Galerie Louise” to the first onlookers walking by, in a few months will for sure be imbued with admiration and surprise: clearer, more luminous and airy lightness.” An article in “La Libre Belgique”

Recently graduated as Executive Master of Restoration and Conservation of Heritage, Irène Panebianco is architect at Ma².

Academic year of the Executive Master in Architectural Heritage (ULB-VUB): François Chatillon is the honour Guest. On this occasion, the chief architect of the historical monuments of France and partner of Ma² for the renovation of the Royal Greenhouses of Laeken, gives a lecture about the renovation of the buildings related to the heritage.

A little walk around the projects – old, new, future – and the work philosophy that presides over each of them. Interviews of Francis Metzger in Le Vif Week-End, Be Perfect, Discover Benelux, ...

Francis Metzger is part of the “special guests” of TLmag of October. Interviewed by Marie Honnay, the Brussels architect talks about his report to the old, their attitude towards the projects, ethics and beauty…

This Friday the 4th of October, the famous weekly magazine of the RTBF dedicated to Belgian talents devoted one of its sequences to the Palace of Justice of Brussels.

Contemporary design or fine restauration of classified heritage, according to Francis Metzger, the approach is identical. He explains himself on this issue in Discover Benelux dedicated to the architects of the country.

After two years restoration, one of the most monumental neo-gothic churches of Brussels has been inaugurated. Free guided tours this week-end.

Edited by Prisme Editions, this volume of a collection dedicated to contemporary architecture points out more than 60 projects. With an introduction of a series of articles upon re-appropriation of the public space, Belgium New Architecture 7 does attest of the vitality of the Belgian creativity in architecture. Pages 260-263, we discover one of the latest creations of Ma²: The Jean Nile Auditorium.

Published this summer in “La Libre Belgique”, this serial of articles invites us to (re)discover all these places of entertainment that originally had another assignment. This week, let’s present La Balsamine located in the abandoned former old barracks Dailly. An article showing how, architecture and artistic choices, can be combined.

The Exciting projects multiply… Ma² is calling for reinforcement and hires after holidays a self-employed architect or architectural engineer to complete the team.

Speaking in the microphone of Africa Gordillo’s broadcast “Soir Première” of 5 August they relate their passion for the construction conceived by Poelaert.

Justice be done at the Palace of Poelaert – An editorial and report by Daniel Couvreur in Le Soir of 5 August, followed by a few interventions of Francis Metzger in radio and television on
BX1, RTBF and RTL

The building permit has just been granted and the work will therefore be launched by the end of 2019. Located in green zone, the classified building will host the BEL, a centre of excellence inter-university dedicated to physics. Renovated in compliance with classified parts and decorated with an architectural intervention on the roof imagined by Ma², the castle will host spaces for work and reflexion, meeting rooms, reception and conference rooms as well as a shelter for bats.

Scenography by the interior designer Lionel Jadot and expanding his terrace on the Square de Saint Gilles, the Café Flora has just opened its doors. A beautiful front bridge for the Aegidium, that is being renovated presently and will soon recover its magnificence. An Ma² project in collaboration with Synergy International.

Ma² wins the special Price of the jury AADIPA 2019 for its restoration work on the Maison Saint-Cyr, of Art Nouveau masterpiece.

Published in the journal of the Courts in June 2019, a story of Francis Metzger which tells how the search for archives can deliver stories and tales and how much it means to the architect when it comes to heritage and truth.

After a year of works where floors, window frames, mouldings, fittings, mosaics, lanterns and stained glass, have been finely renovated, the oldest building of the avenue Franklin Roosevelt and certainly, one the most venerable, hosts now the Embassy of the United Arab Emirates.

For a selective bibliography of the publications of, and around the work of Francis Metzger, and the workshop Ma².

Designed in 1900 by the architect Gustave Strauven, this Art Nouveau pearl classified in 1988, has just undergone a masterful and meticulous interior restoration, of the roof, the rear façade as well as the outdoor spaces.

Bourgeois lecture hall – La Cambre Horta ULB – A conference of Michel Goutal on the restoration of the Cavrois Villa, followed by a debate of Francis Metzger (architect of the Villa Empain restoration) and Eric Hennaut (art historian and member of the Board of the Van Buuren House).

As the doors of exceptional buildings opens to visitors as part as the Brussels Art Nouveau &Art Deco Festival, the architect Francis Metzger who has renovated more than one of them, tells to Thijs Demeulemeester of L'Écho about his relationship to this remarkable heritage.

Installation of the small copper roof, identical to that placed in July 1904.

An article of Véronique Lamquin, in the Soir on the renaissance of the Diamond Palace.
 

“Historical indoors” file – Saint-Cyr House – Rediscovery of an eclectic decorative style
 

In charge of the renovation campaign of the Aegidium, Ma² launches the construction work in collaboration with Synergy International in October 2019.

First Phase of the Ma² Intervention in the renovation campaign of the Palace of Justice of Brussels: new contemporary and secure doors were installed at the main entrance and at rue aux Laines level.
 

Work in progress, the renovation of the gallery takes shape. 

The workshop wins the invitation to tender for the architectural mission, restoration and rehabilitation of the Labour University of Charleroi, the Zenobe Gramme project.

It will be called the Corinthia Grand Hotel Astoria and should definitively regain its magnificence in 2021.

“Auditoire Bourgeois” – La Cambre Horta ULB. A conference by Sarah McKinnon, head of the project of the reconstruction of the Glasgow School of Art, and of Francis Metzger who will present the reconstruction of Charle-Albert Castle that remained abandoned for a long time after two successive fires. 

A journey through the projects of Ma², this booklet invites you to discover the philosophy and methodology of the workshop as well as our interventions on heritage buildings and contemporary sites. 

As part of the cycle of lectures “The Art of Building Iron - The Whole Matter of Iron” set up by “l'Office du Patrimoine et des Sites de l'Etat de Genève”, an intervention of Francis Metzger in the Sicli Pavillon.

The opening ceremony of the auditorium Jean Nile: it is a conception from Ma² which welcomes a new auditorium of 300 seats on the Erasmus site.

For its eleventh edition developed around the theme of water, the European Price of Architecture 2017 has nominated the restoration project of the Nekkersgat Mill. 

A lecture-type course of Francis Metzger at the Royal Academy of Sciences, Letters and Fine Arts of Belgium, on the philosophical and methodological approach of restoration.

​​​​​The Minister-President of the Brussels Government Rudi Vervoort has visited the renovating site last Tuesday afternoon, located by the “Forêt de Soignes” in Watermael-Boitsfort. On this occasion, he has called for ideas concerning the future and affectation of this building. 

Ma² is in charge of the restoration of the Tournay-Solvay Castle, Flemish neo renaissance castle built in 1880 and left unoccupied.

On this occasion, the workshop is proud to present its new website.

Europa Nostra, Berchen, Norvège