Plateau Kirchberg

Plateau Kirchberg Review

A number of banks, needing more space than that available on boulevard Royal, have put up huge edifices on Kirchberg, across the Alzette northeast of the center. Gottfried Boehm's glass-and-aluminum Deutsche Bank encloses a giant atrium, frequently used for art exhibitions, and Richard Meier's sober Hypobank is the perfect foil for an explosively dynamic sculpture by Frank Stella. The banks are cheek to jowl with the modernistic buildings of the European Union institutions, often accompanied by contemporary sculpture—the European Court of Justice, with pieces by Henry Moore and Lucien Wercollier; the Jean Monnet Building, with a replica of Carl-Fredrik Reuterswärd's Non-Violence; the European Center, where the Council of Ministers meets; and others, whose presence in Luxembourg are visible reminders of the disproportionately important role played by this tiny country in the politics of the European Union. This is also where the I.M. Pei-designed Musée d'Art Moderne Grand Duc Jean is located.