Théâtre de Liège

A jewel of Liège’s heritage

In 1779, the Prince-Bishop de Velbrück created the Société libre d’Émulation, whose vocation was to cultivate the arts, sciences and humanities.

L’Émulation – the building where this learned society used to meet – prospered through the years until 20 August 1914 when, due to German reprisals, the building was totally destroyed.

L’Émulation was rebuilt in 1939 by Julien Koenig, employing a neoclassical design while using contemporary techniques. Sixty years later, the building, left unoccupied, was in an advanced state of decay. Classified as a monument in 1998, it was placed on the list of monuments in peril. In 2000, it was decided to restore l’Émulation and to establish the Théâtre de Liège here, “temporarily” installed at Place de l’Yser.

The Liège architects Pierre Hebbelinck and Pierre de Wit were in charge of the building’s conversion, and it was inaugurated on October 2013.

Favouring wood, concrete and glass, the Théâtre de Liège consists of a total area of 7,800 m2 combining neoclassicism and contemporary design. Columns, mouldings and gilding sit alongside Vitra furniture by Jean Prouvé, the famous French designer, to create a stripped-down but warm atmosphere.

The architecture is punctuated with a textual intervention from the Liège visual artist-performer Patrick Corillon whose magic words animate the entire building.