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Europa, also known as Residence Palace, is a complex of buildings between the Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat and the Chaussée d'Etterbeek/Etterbeeksesteenweg in the European Quarter of Brussels (Belgium). It is formed of three buildings, a press centre and a building currently being renovated (estimated completion: 2016) for use by the European Council, mainly, and even also (for some occasions) by the Council of the European Union as a summit building.〔〔 To the west lies the main Council building, Justus Lipsius and across the road lie the Berlaymont and Charlemagne buildings of the European Commission. ==History== Walloon businessman Lucien Kaisin planned the building following the end of the First World War. It was to be a luxurious apartment block for the bourgeoisie and aristocracy of Brussels following a housing shortage caused by the war. It was also intended to address the shortage of domestic workers at the time by having them available to all residents. Kaisin described the building as "a small town within a city". The building was designed by a Swiss architect, Michel Polak. The foundation stone of the Art Deco building was laid on 30 May 1923 with the first residents moving in in 1927. Associated facilities included a theatre hall, a swimming pool and other commercial services such as a restaurant.〔(RÉSIDENCE PALACE Project Factsheet ), Council of the European Union〕 It was a prestigious housing collective for the most privileged layers of society. The building has partly been listed as a historic monument.〔http://translate.google.com/translate?prev=hp&hl=en&js=n&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.eurobru.com%2Fmonum060.htm&sl=fr&tl=en&history_state0=〕 The building only had a short commercial success. In 1940 tenants were forced to leave,〔http://www.blbe.be/default.asp?V_DOC_ID=1962〕 as the building was requisitioned as the headquarters of the occupying German army during the Nazi occupation of Belgium during the Second World War.〔http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/eu/6206556/New-EU-showcase-building-to-cost-taxpayers-280-million.html〕 In September 1944, after the liberation of Brussels, the building was taken over as headquarters for SHAEF and RAF Second Tactical Air Force. After the War the building was turned into administrative offices for the Belgian state.〔 At the end of the 1960s, as part of work to modernise the area during the construction of an underground railway line beneath rue de la Loi, a new aluminium façade extended the north western facade facing the Rue de la Loi,〔 which was under the supervision of Michel Polak's sons. Finally, in 1988, the eastern part of the building was demolished to make way for the construction of the Justus Lipsius building. The original façades of the Résidence Palace building, the entrances and the central ground-floor corridor are now listed as a national heritage site. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Europa (building)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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