4th European School in Brussels

The art integration for the 4th European school, in the former military site in Laeken (Brussels), is for a site where preschool, nursery, primary and secondary school are offered. Every school day, 40 buses bring 2500 students. Individuals with different cultural backgrounds, who must feel at home at 'their' school. In 2005, the European community consisted of twenty-five different countries. The anonymity due to the grandeur contrasts with the individuality of feeling at home. Peter Schoutsen has chosen to give identity to the reception area for the students. The bus station gains personality by giving names to the parking spaces.

Every country has a kind of 'current identity' through the typography of the most read daily newspaper. Using these typographies from the various newspapers, the names of the most famous 'children's heroes' have been incorporated into the parking spaces of the bus station floor. In this image, anonymity and identity merge in a playful way.

Fairy tales and children's stories often use typical vocabulary, such as specific statements or names of objects or situations. These typical phrases find a suitable place scattered across the site.

Reading about each other's childhood heroes on the floor of the bus station arouses curiosity about the stories from other countries. The typical fragments from the stories in different places can also lead to communication between and integration of the different countries through curiosity. Curiosity stimulates eagerness to learn and broadens thinking.