A sense of balance

With a twinkle in his eye behind his glasses, Francis Delaporte welcomes the Journal in his "den" (which it has been since 1996): the strange building of the administrative courts, the history of which he recounts with relish. Like several buildings on the Kirchberg, this one was abandoned by a growing European institution, in this case the European Parliament, which very quickly felt cramped. The administrative courts, which were literally created ex nihilo at the end of the 1990s, share it with the European Congress Centre and the Court of the European Free Trade Association – which settles disputes arising in trade relations between the European Union and Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein.

The building is distinguished above all by its architectural boldness of the 1970s: only one floor is visible from the discreet Fort Thüngen Street entrance, as the building clings to the Kirchberg plateau like a white nest, narrowing at the base and streaked with large windows that run along each floor. A building that offers an unparalleled natural panorama to its occupants as well as to visitors passing through during a hearing.