Designing Embassies for Middle Powers: The Architecture of Belgian and Dutch Diplomacy in a Globalizing World

Considering embassy architecture since 1945, several phenomena stand out. First of all the rhetoric of embassy design has gradually transcended questions of national representation to inscribe itself in international discourses on modern working and living and on ecology and safety. Moreover some countries started to consider the option of sharing embassies. The emergence of multilateral structures and global governance stimulated these developments. Though historical research on government buildings provided important insights in the relationships between architecture and politics, our knowledge of architecture for diplomacy remains focused on major power countries. Yet middle power states were particularly confronted with the new challenges of national representation. To what extent did these challenges affect their embassy architecture? This project tackles this question through a case study on Belgium and the Netherlands – two historically-related, middle powers that although pursuing disparate policies of embassy building, also considered collaboration.

Keywords:globalizing

Disciplines:Architectural engineering, Architecture, Interior architecture, Architectural design, Art studies and sciences