Dear friends,
Sorry, the article of Ian Jeal was wrong.
Please see here the correct version:
The Tower of Babel the story of the EU building
Some people believe, because of what they have read, that the European Parliament building in Strasbourg was modelled on the biblical Tower of Babel. This opinion is based on a comparison with the 16th century painting by Pieter Breughel the elder, “Tower of Babel” (1563). But, in the view of archaeologists, the Tower of Babel was far more likely to have been a rectangular ziggurat (a stepped tower). Also used as evidence is an old poster with a similar cartoon image of a circular tower advertising an event called ‘Many tongues, one voice’ at the Council of Europe (a completely separate organisation and not part of the European Union) but which is claimed to be proof of the architects’ intentions.
Apart from this having no connection with the European Parliament, the architects themselves (Architecture Studio of Paris) said that in their planning they “had to preclude Babel”. They state that “the Parliament remains an open piece of work, just as Europe itself is and always shall remain, by its democratic nature, a ‘work in progress’ “.The open aspect on one side of the building is designed to portray both dialogue with the city and also transparency from the outside. (1)
I realised how much hurt can be caused by uninformed criticism when I was asked to pray for one of the team of architects by his brother, who told me he had received many judgmental messages about the design.
Ian Jeal, Strasbourg
(1) Source: “The European Parliament in Strasbourg” by Pierre-François Mourier