Le Soir · 1992-05-22 · Martine Duprez (text)

A grandiose project named Grand A, like an ark along the canal

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Article by Martine Duprez published on 22 May 1992. The first major public presentation of Mon De Rijck's "Grand A" project: a basin 135 m long, 10 m wide and 1 m deep along the canal at Quai des Péniches, with two 50-metre-high vertical barges forming a giant A and two more lying horizontally - one devoted to art, the other to the economy. Mon De Rijck, who lived on a boat for ten years, sees it as a signal and a new city gate: a venue for prestigious events, where each month a country would showcase an aspect of its economy and culture. The name evokes the structure's shape, the name of Mon De Rijck's boat and a set of symbols (the great architect, the great artist, the great love, the first letter of the alphabet). The team assembled around the project: the Schilling architecture office, engineers Pierre d'Haene and Verdeyen & Moenaert, developer Jean-Paul Rondiat and Bernard Mahy of PR firm Belgium Contact-Trimodia. Rondiat, a navigation enthusiast, holds the Quai des Péniches site through a long lease with the Société du canal; a moratorium now bans industrial activity (a gas depot) there, opening the way to a cultural use. Mahy stresses the art-and-commerce combination in the European dynamic, citing the Atomium. The budget reaches 70 to 80 million and requires a public partner (Brussels Region, French or Flemish Community, or Europe). Filed with the Brussels Region on 24 October 1991, the project draws little enthusiasm from the Picqué cabinet, Karl Lowette calling it unrealistic. To convince the authorities, Mon De Rijck plans to publish postcards of the project for citizens to send to Charles Picqué's office. The Grand A model will be presented to the public for the first time on Friday 5 June at 7 p.m., as part of the "Rupture de digue" exhibition, organised with the Art-Pool artists' collective at 80 rue Gaucheret, Schaerbeek.