The Hidden Steps of Further Union

Brussels, the European Capital, is full of symbolic buildings that represent both temporal power and the great democratic experiment that is the European project.

Whilst most know of the more prominent buildings such as the Consilium, the Commission’s Berlaymont building, or Kunst-wet straadt (the European K street), a more secret but still amazing example of symbolism are the half hidden stairs that lead to the hemicycle of the European Parliament, i.e. where the parliament meets in Brussels.

Hidden in plain sight just below the European Parliament, one can find them facing the Parliament’s Spinelli Building on the left.

The stairs are the easiest way to pass through the parliament to the visitors' entrance at the plenary, or the Leopold park. In fact, no matter the hour one will always find tourists trudgingly staggering up and down.

This is no mistake, anyone who wants to pass through the parliament has no choice but to use the stairs and no choice but to walk stumbling. Unlike most stairs, the stairs under the European Parliament seem built to make walking more difficult instead of easier. Why make walking more difficult than easier? Why go against the long prevalent idea in architecture that form should serve function?

Perhaps this is a deliberate mistake. As it happens sometimes in marketing, exceptions and even mistakes can give things unexpected visibility. If we consider these seemingly clumsy stairs in the wake of urban semioticians, it could be argued that the obvious deficiencies in the primary functions of staircases draw one’s attention to their secondary, symbolic meaning.

The primary, obvious and natural purpose of stairs is to ascend or descend safely. In political use, however, this function is often surrounded by symbolic layers of which the European project has also sought to partake in.

The starting point for the EU is the Treaty of Rome, signed in the spring of 1957. One can also look for a reference point for symbolic stairs in the same geographical direction. Nowhere is political power more closely linked to stairs than on the Roman Capitoline hill (Campidoglio).

The highest of Rome's seven hills was the spiritual center of the Roman Empire. According to mythology, it was named after a human skull found there, and later Rome may have called itself Caput Mundi, for the same reason.

In time, Campidoglio also became the center of civil life and today Rome's City Hall stands on its summit. Known for its staircase leading to the square, the cordonata. Both Campidoglio’s square and the famous cordonata were designed by Michelangelo and completed after his death.?

Michelangelo's design work was in many ways linked to the political power of the time. The work was commissioned by Pope Paul III and, when completed, Campidoglio Square symbolically opened up to the Vatican, turning its back on the glories of Roman antiquity.?

The famous cordonata, in turn, made the ascent to the hill simple. The low-stepped, graceful staircase made it possible for travelers to climb without dismounting from their horses. Thus making the entrance to the square of eternal power effortless. Michelangelo captured this idea with the combination of the cordonata and the perfect symmetry of the piazza. Despite the need to represent political power the parliament's staircase seems to have a very different tone.

The symbolism of the Campidoglio continues to live on in today's caput mundi, the United States. The House of Congress, the country's most representative power, directly borrows from ancient Rome with features such as the 36 facies or the neoclassical marble. The 365 steps leading up to the building's entrance, one for each day of the year, are, along with the dome, an integral part of the Western image of political power.

So how does the unassuming, impractical staircase behind the European Parliament fit into the continuum of staircases mentioned above? The answer is: by standing out. Instead of political power rising upwards and looking down at the people, the staircase signals humility and slow integration. At the same time, they are a reminder that the journey to the EU and the peace project it represents on the continent has not been an easy one.

This trodden path that leads to the European Parliament plenary building is one of the less known, but incredibly powerful symbols of the project called EU. In a way the stairs seem to remind all the wary travelers that European integration is the destination, but one cannot get there with easy strides but with consistent small steps.

Joonas Kananen is a Freelance Journalist, M.A. in History Studies and a passionate football fan.

Chaolla Park is a Public Affairs professional. He has worked in 3 member states and has a background in politics.