The European Parliament meets officially in the city of Strasbourg with the legal requirement to meet there twelve sessions a year, although other work and meetings take place elsewhere. The tower or large hemicycle seats the almost 800 members for their sessions. Other buildings in the complex house assembly rooms and almost 1200 offices. The architects say they were inspired by the structure of the Roman amphitheater for the central building (the Weiss Building) although some critics say the structure was inspired by the Tower of Babel in Breughel's painting. It is also claimed that the unfinished nature of the central tower alludes to the unfinished nature of Europe.
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