A Contemporary Tower of Babel

Landmarks &
Monuments
… one common language for everyone, all countries, from
North, South, East and West, join together and make Europe a
Union of Nations, People, Cultures and Traditions. People won’t
build a new tower to help themselves rise to heaven but the
powerful force within their unity of purpose will help all men
and women reach a steady peace.
Introductory front page of a
CLIL activity held with some
classes of the Comprehensive
School of Gottolengo.
2012- 2013
A Contemporary Tower of Babel
Colosseum: The most famous Roman Amphitheatre
The Louise Weiss building
or IPE - the Immeuble du
Parlement européen.
Peter Brueghel’s Tower of Babel
The activity articulates around The Seat of the European
Parliament and its amazing similarities with the 'The Tower of
Babel', a famous painting by a Dutch artist named Pieter
Brueghel and the Roman amphitheatres like the Colosseum. It
is demonstrated that both the Team of Architects, who
designed the EU seat of Parliament and Brueghel, when he
painted the Tower of Babel, were inspired by Roman
amphitheatres.
Content
Compared study on Parliamentary
Landmarks and Monuments.
Subjects involved
Mother Tongue, English, Art , History,
Geography and ITC.
Classes involved
All classes interested
Authors
Franca Piacentini & Carmine Rizzo
Istituto Comprensivo di Gottolengo
2012- 2013
CLIL
Istituto Comprensivo di Gottolengo Italy
CLIL
The Seat of the European Parliament
A Contemporary Tower of Babel
The strange Building shown in the picture below is The
Site European Parliamentary in the French City of
Strasburg. It is a inspired by the 'The Tower of Babel', a
famous painting by a Dutch artist named Pieter Brueghel.
Its design recalls an unfinished building with rings around
its exterior appearing similar to scaffolding. If you look at
the Brueghel painting on the next page, the similarity is
incredible.
The city of Strasbourg in France is the official seat of the European Parliament. The institution
meet there twelve sessions a year (each session
lasting about four days). All votes of the European
Parliament must take place in Strasbourg and
although a majority of the Parliament's work,
actually is carried out in Brussels, Strasbourg keeps
the Parliament’s official home.
The Parliament's buildings are located in the
Quartier Européen (European Quarter) of the city
and the main building is the Louise Weiss building,
that was inaugurated in 1999.
Principal Building
The Louise Weiss building was named after the MEP Louise Weiss name and its technical name is
IPE, the Immeuble du Parlement européen. It is located in the Wacken district of Strasbourg at the
intersection of the Ill and the Marne-Rhine Canal, it houses the hemicycle for plenary sessions, the
largest of any European institution, 18 other
assembly rooms as well as a total of 1133
parliamentary offices. Through a covered
footbridge over the Ill, the Louise Weiss
communicates with the Winston Churchill and
Salvador de Madariaga buildings.
With its surface of 220,000m² and its distinctive
60m tower, it is one of the biggest and most
visible buildings of Strasbourg. The Louise
Weiss was designed by the Paris-based team of
architects Architecture-Studio. It is worth
noticing that, either Bruegel for its Tower of Babel or the French architects for the EU building,
were inspired by Roman amphitheatres. Work started in 1995 and the inauguration of the building
took place on 14 December 1999 by French President Jacques Chirac and Parliament, President
Nicole Fontaine.
Secondary School, classes 3rd C (Gambara and Gottolengo) and 2nd C (Gambara)
Istituto Comprensivo di Gottolengo Italy
CLIL
Hemicycle
Members sit in a hemicycle according to their political groups arranged mainly from left to right.
All desks are equipped with microphones, headphones for interpretation and electronic voting
equipment. The leaders of the groups sit on the front benches at the centre, and in the very centre is
a podium for guest speakers. In the raised area sit the President and staff. Behind them there is an
EU flag attached to the wall with national flags in rows each side of it. The chamber as a whole is of
a modern design, with the walls entirely composed of lights with large blue chairs for MEPs.
The Tower of Babel
According to urban legends,
the EU Parliament Building
design consciously mirrors the
Tower of Babel as painted by
Bruegel.
Where do we find a link
between the Seat of the EU
parliament and the Babel
Tower? Up until the Tower of
Babel was started, the whole
world had one language - one
common speech for all people.
The people of the earth became
skilled in construction and
decided to build a city with a tower that would reach to heaven. By building the tower they wanted
to make a name for themselves and also prevent their city from being scattered.
God came to see their city and the tower they were building. He perceived their intentions, and he
knew this "stairway to heaven" would only lead the people away from God. He noted the powerful
force within their unity of purpose. As a result, God confused their language, causing them to speak
different languages so they would not understand each other. By doing this, God thwarted their
plans. He also scattered the people of the city all over the face of the earth.
Today the plan seems the same but differs in its final purpose. One common language for everyone,
all countries, from North, South, East and West, join together and make Europe a Union of Nations,
People, Cultures and Traditions. People won’t build a new tower to help themselves rise to heaven
but the powerful force within their unity of purpose will help all men and women reach a steady
peace.
Secondary School, classes 3rd C (Gambara and Gottolengo) and 2nd C (Gambara)