L3 · Former Institute of Anatomy | Institut Supérieur des Langues Vivantes (ISLV)

On October 8, 2019, the "new" L3 is inaugurated after a complete renovation. It is now home to the Institut Supérieur des Langues Vivantes (ISLV), the program in Traduction et Interprétation of the Philosophy and Arts Faculty and the Centre d'Etudes Japonaises, the Centre Européen d'Archéométrie, the Department of Chinese Language and Culture, as well as a cell biology laboratory.

It is also linked by a glass walkway to the brand new L5 building, which will be home to the Translation and Interpretation program.

The Institute of Anatomy, the first to be built in this new complex, was completed between 1883 and 1886, and bears the name Auguste Swaen in homage to the professor who presided over its construction.

Indeed, Auguste Swaen (1847-1929) and his colleague Félix Putzeys had brought back valuable information from their travels abroad, which was used by architect Lambert-Henri Noppius to design a state-of-the-art building.

The building in Liège was largely inspired by the Institute of Physiology in Breslau (Wroclaw), Poland. Constructed from brick, limestone and tufa, it is in the neo-Gothic style, as evidenced by the mullioned windows, broken arches and pinnacles. 

This neo-medieval taste was popular in Liège at the end of the 19th century (Grand Poste, Palais du Gouverneur), but its choice for a university building is more surprising, as neo-classicism was often favored for places of learning. The only other known case in the Cité ardente is the Institut d'Astronomie de Cointe.