  The angular momentum projected Generator Coordinate Method using the
quadrupole moment as collective coordinate and the Gogny force as the effective
interaction is used to describe the properties of the ground state and
low-lying excited states of the neutron rich light nuclei 32,34,36Si. It is
found that the ground state of the nucleus 34Si is spherical. However, this is
not only due to the N=20 shell closure as the ground state of 34Si contains a
significant amount of the intruder f7/2 neutron orbital. On the other hand,
rather good agreement with experimental data for many observables is obtained.
