BELGIUM

At the turn of the century, Belgian architecture played a vital role in the promotion of
modern architecture with its Art Nouveau style, developed by the pioneers Victor Horta
and Henri van de Velde. Art Nouveau was born as a reaction against the eclectic styles
that had prevailed during the 19th century, such as neoclassicism, promoted by the
academies, and neo-Gothic styles, taught at the St. Lucas Institutes.
Horta’s design for the Tassel House (1893, Brussels) already revealed all the
characteristics of this new style: a new language of elegant curvilinear forms, a dynamic
manipulation of interior spaces, and a decorative use of steel and wrought iron as
structural frames. This project brought him an influx of both private and public
Encyclopedia of 20th-century architecture 238
commissions in Brussels such as the Maison du Peuple (1899), the architect’s own house
(1898), the Aubecq House (1899), the Van Eetvelde house (1901), and the Waucquez
Department Store (1906).
By 1895 Henri van de Velde, a prolific theorist and the first industrial designer, had
designed his own house Bloemenwerf (1895, Uccle/Ukkel, Brussels) as a Ges amtkunstwerk (total work
of art). Designed to the smallest details, this two-story house comprises a series of
irregular polygonal rooms organized around a central hall with an upper balcony. This
spatial nucleus acts as a symbolic womb from which art could be generated from within
the family core to fight the ugliness that prevailed in contemporary society; the latter
concept would become the basic tenet of his theoretical writings.
Reacting against the exuberant curvilinear forms of Art Nouveau, the Viennese
architect Josef Hoffmann designed the Palais Stoclet (1911, Brussels) with simple and
pure cubic forms stressing their planarity and rectangularity, an implicit reference to
classicism. Although it was quite rare that an international architect would be
commissioned for a work in Belgium, this does illustrate the international recognition
Belgian architecture received before World War I.
During the Interbellum, Belgian architecture held the function of rebuilding the
country. The main task was to provide sound and hygienic houses for the working
classes. Louis van der Swaelmen (1883–1929), a landscape architect and an early town
planner, promoted the idea of garden cities. Under his direction, a number of architects
designed some of the finest examples of collective habitations. Notorious examples are
the Small Rusland Industrial District (1923, Zelzate, East Flanders) and the Kapelleveld
(1926, St-Lambrechts-Woluwe, Brussels) designed with Huib Hoste (1881–1957), the
Cité Moderne (1923, St.-Agatha-Berchem, Brussels) designed with Victor Bourgeois
(1897–1962), and the Logis (1927, Boisfort/Bosvoorde, Brussels) developed with Jean-
Jules Eggericx (1884–1963).
After his return from Germany, where during the period 1907–14 he was active in the
Kunstgewerbe of Weimar, Henri van de Velde, the precursor of the Bauhaus founded by
Gropius in 1919, would in 1926 become the first director of the Intsitut Supérieur des
Arts Décoratifs (ISAD), also known as La Cambre. La Cambre was to become the
leading educational institute where most of the modern architects were trained by the
pioneers of the modern movement, such as Louis Van der Swaelmen, Huib Hoste, Victor
Bourgeois, Antoine Pompe (1873–1980), and Louis Herman De Koninck (1896–1984).
In 1930 Brussels hosted the third Congrès Internationaux d’Architecture Moderne
(CIAM) to discuss the problems of national housing developments and their relationship
to public amenities in urban areas. To seek a solution to these architectural and urban
problems was the main intent of the Charters of Athens, signed in 1933.
Individual residences remained a more graceful subject to explore the new directions
modern architecture could take. In 1927 the painter Guiette invited the French architect
Le Corbusier (1887–1965) to design his House and Studio as a variation of his Citronhan
house. Van de Velde’s built work during this period reveals a more mature modern style.
Flat roofs, rounded corners, cantilevered balconies, and carefully selected material
textures are some of the main characteristics of La Nouvelle Maison in Tervuren (1928,
Brabant). Van de Velde’s library building for the University of Ghent (1936, East
Flanders) is a concrete building that forms a landmark in the city, with its vertical
articulated tower and horizontal building volume that stretches a whole city block.
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De Koninck and Bourgeois, two talented and influential architects, promoted the ideas
of functional rationalism. Because both were professors at La Cambre, their influence on
future generations of architects would be pervasive. Adapting the doctrines of Adolf
Loos, De Koninck’s projects, such as the Dotremont house (1932, Brussels), reveal a
rational synthesis of plan, a technical virtuosity, and an acute sense for spatial
composition. As meritorious as these projects are, they remained isolated instances and
failed to generate a wide following as most buildings were designed without the
intervention of an architect. It was only in 1939, just one year before the outbreak of
World War II, that an act was voted to protect the architectural profession, which in turn
led to the establishment of the Belgian Order of Architects.
After World War II, the focus once again turned to reconstruction, yet this time the
pragmatism and the logic of modernism prevailed. New building programs, major public
infrastructures, and sanitation were the main concerns in the larger cities such as
Brussels, Ghent, Antwerp, and Liège/Luik. The National Society for Low-Cost Housing
(1919), governed by politicians and technicians rather than architects, directed the
building industry. CIAM members eagerly awaited commissions to put the ideas of the
Athens Charter into practice. These architects proposed developing multistoried
buildings; however, most of the rest of the country opted for surface building. Examples
of high-rise towers for habitation are Renaat Braem’s (1910–) apartment buildings in Kiel
(1958, Antwerp); the group EGAU’s Plaine de Dro ixhe complex in Liège/Luik (1951–70); and Willy Van
Der Meeren’s (1923–) social housing high-rise Ieder Zijn Huis in Evere (1954, Brabant).
During the 1950s, architects exposed to the progressive movements of the
international scene experimented with individual housing projects. The English-born
architect Peter Callebout (1916–70), who produced some of the subtlest villas during the
1950s, including his Gerard House (1949, La Plante, Namur), was inspired by Japanese
architecture and influenced by Alvar Aalto. The individual residences by Jacques Dupuis
(1914–84), such as his Bertrand house (1949, Uccle/Ukkel, Brussels), reveal a more
organic approach. The modernism of La Cambre is exemplified by the work of Roger
Bastin, such as his design for the Matagne House (1950, Namen/Namur), the architect’s
own house (1960, Namur/Namen, with G.van Oost), and his St. Nicholas Chapel (1961,
Namur/Namen), with its elements of English Brutalism. The modern avant-garde, such as
Willy Van Der Meeren—an inventive constructor with a social commitment, sporadically
experimented with new formal solutions for a minimal dwelling such as the Ceca houses
(1956) in Tervuren.
Early examples of modern public buildings can be found in the coastal city of Ostend.
Its Post Office building (1953) designed by Gaston Eysselinck (1907–53); its Townhouse
(1954) by Victor Bourgeois; and its Casino (1951) by Leon Stijnen (1899–1990)
exemplify how large spatial complexes whose facades contain large portions of glass can
create a monumental style.
The 1958 World Exhibition held in Brussels celebrated the victory of modernism, with
traditional building being relegated to the Vieux Bruxelles (Old Brussels) area. New
materials such as prestressed concrete, tension wires, glass, steel, and aluminum, and
innovative structural systems such as rigid shells were exhibited to the public at large.
The Philips pavilion by Le Corbusier and Xenaxis and the Marie-Thumas pavilion by
L.J.Boucher (1929–), J.P.Blondel (1924–), and O.Filippone (1927–) illustrated how these
new systems could be adapted to host a wide variety of functions.
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During the early 1960s, project developers and architects alike exploited modernism
and the International Style. Architectural practices bloomed, and an ever-spreading
growth followed, during which quantity rather than quality would prevail. The different
ideologies that had once distinguished the institutes of architectural education had all
adopted the modern International Style, and differences among them would become one
of language (Flemish versus French) rather then differences in pedagogy.
In 1968, just ten years after Expo 58, a decisive moment marked a turning point in the
Belgian architecture of the 20th century. The student revolts of May 1968 aimed to
expose the devastating consequences of a consumption society in general and that of the
International Style in particular. The project developers were held accountable for their
ever-spreading urge to destruct the old and supplant it with the new without any
consideration for social or cultural implications. The demolition of Horta’s Maison du
Peuple, in 1965, had gone by without any remarkable contest. As a result, two
organizations for historic preservation were established that same year: the St. Lucas
Archives and the Archives et Recherches de l’Architecture et de l’Urbanisme (ARAU).
Whereas initially these preservation efforts mainly pertained to buildings of previous
centuries, during the 1980s attention slowly moved to include buildings from the early
20th century, such as the Interbellum Foundation (1981, Ghent) and the Livres Blancs de
l’Agglomeration (1983, Brussels). The latter’s main objective was not only to preserve
but also to rehabilitate significant buildings to make them economically viable. Because
of their efforts, for example, Horta’s Wauquez Department Store (1906, Brussels) was
converted with considerable success into the Belgian Center for the Strip (1988). To
promote modern and contemporary architecture, other foundations were established such
as the Stichting Architectuur Museum in Ghent (1983), the Singel Museum in Antwerp
(1985), and the Fondation pour l’Architecture Moderne in Brussels (1986).
After the revolts of the sixties, a new generation of architects had to search for a new
frame of reference, deal with the issues of how to integrate the old with the new, and
reassess their role in society. New campus designs for the Université de Liege, for the
Université Catholique de Louvain (UCL), and for the Free University of Brussels
(VUB/ULB) offered great opportunities to put into practice some of the answers to these
problems. The Sart Tilman campus in Liège created a new urban context with its modern
buildings such as the Hospital (1973) by Charles Vandenhove (1927–) and its Sport
complex by B.Albert (1949–). The UCL campus of Louvain-la-Neuve in Ottignies with
its human scale was modeled after the old Flemish beguinages. The new campus for the Medical
Faculties of UCL in St. Lambrechts Woluwe (1969, Brussels) offered Lucien Kroll
(1929–) the opportunity to implement his methods of user participation.
Integrating modernism with classicism became the main issue during the 1970s and
1980s. Vandenhove devoted himself to create new languages of designs through the
stylistic transformation of either regional vernacular or classical styles. Examples of the
former are his own house in (Liège) built in 1961 and adapted in 1974; an example of the
latter is the Delforge House (1983, Namur), with its reference to Palladian architecture.
His assistant, Albert, designed the Villa Herzet (1985, Esneux, Liège) as a Palladian villa,
transforming it to adapt it to the sloping site yet respecting its strict bilateral symmetric
compostion. The plan is organized around a central hallway that stretches from the entry
porch in the front to the garden in the back, where it opens into a semi-circular glass
house. In Antwerp Bob van Reeth (1943–) designed the Van Roosmalen House (1988) in
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reference to the house Loos designed for Josephine Baker in Paris. Located along the
terrace promenade of the Schelde, its design has an industrial maritime style with round
windows, round corners, and roof terraces reminiscent of the deck of an elegant ocean
liner.
During the 1990s, a number of Flemish architects with small practices, such as
Stephane Beel (1949–), Luc Deleu (1944–), and Paul Robbrecht (1950–) and Hilde Daem
(1950–) have gained some international recognition. The latter’s close collaborations
with artists have inspired their minimalist approach toward architecture. Noteworthy
examples are their projects for the Bacob Bank (1988) in Kerksem and the Canal Houses
(1997) in Ghent. The last decade of the century was also marked by the engineered
architecture of one of Belgium’s largest multi-disciplinary firms: Philippe Samyn (1948–)
and Partners. Their oeuvre counts numerous industrial projects such as the OCAS
Research Center for Steel Applications (1991, Zelzate, East Flanders), the Wallonian
Trade Center (1992, Marche en Famenne, Luxembourg), and the Auditorium for the Free
University of Brussels (1993). Although this oeuvre can be stylistically characterized as
High Tech, it does have some classical aspirations and claims to supply the framework in
which life’s activities can unfold.