Castle of Arenberg, Heverlee near Leuven, sixteenth century
Photograph: Reto Geiser

EAHN committee members surveying the grounds at the Castle of Arenberg
Photograph: Reto Geiser

Carmen Popescu, Andrew Ballantyne and Jan Kenneth Birksted outside the Arenbreg Campus Library
Photograph: Reto Geiser

Isabel van der Zande (left) with Susan Klaiber in Leuven
Photograph: Reto Geiser

EAHN Third Annual Business Meeting, Leuven

The Third Annual Business Meeting of the EAHN committee took place at the Catholic University, Leuven from 8–10 February 2008. Committee member Hilde Heynen and her colleagues Krista De Jonge and Luc Verpoest at the Department of Architecture, Urbanism and Planning organized an ample and varied program for the weekend which allowed for exchanges with Belgian colleagues and the exploration of several centuries of architecture in Leuven, in addition to the full business meeting agenda. Thirteen out of twenty-one committee members could attend the meeting, and on Saturday we welcomed two new committee members to our group, bringing our total to twenty-three for 2008. Our new administrative assistant, Isabel van der Zande, from the EAHN secretariat at the TU Delft, helped with everything from taking the minutes during the business meeting to translating menus from Flemish into English. Our hosts prepared a fascinating forum on current Flemish research in architectural history for our first afternoon at the Castle of Arenberg on the outskirts of Leuven. Representatives of fourteen research institutions presented profiles of their projects, programs and facilities. A reception in the castle salons, restored period rooms with historic furnishings, ended the day on a convivial note in informal discussions with Belgian scholars.

Committee members discussed Network business all day on Saturday, reviewing the accomplishments of 2007 and planning new projects for 2008 and beyond. Krista De Jonge’s tour of the campus library by Rafael Moneo provided a welcome break just before lunch (see the report of this tour below). After an exhausting but productive day of deliberations, participants relaxed Saturday evening and enjoyed an outstanding dinner at a nearby restaurant, hosted by committee member Hilde Heynen.

Subcommittees met Sunday morning to discuss Network publications and the planning of future conferences. Committee members who had time on Sunday afternoon could tour the historic center of the old university city before returning home.

Full reports on the Flemish research forum and the EAHN business meeting will be published in the June issue of the EAHN Newsletter; the minutes of the meeting will be circulated through the EAHN listserv and posted on the website.