november-2010

BELGIUM’S HISTORIC BUILDINGS
On one side are the cases of pure restoration,
while on the other are the contemporary structures
needed to refl ect Brussels’ role as a 21st-century city
best craftspeople and source replacement
materials – and the result is stunning.
Brussels’ art nouveau treasures,
meanwhile, are numerous, generally well
preserved and well documented. The Horta
Museum, former home of the architect Victor
Horta, is one of the best examples of his work
in this field. What’s more, the recent purchase
of the next-door property – itself a fine
example of art nouveau by one of Horta’s
contemporaries, Jules Brunfaut – will allow
the whole of Horta’s building to be made
public. The development of this new
extension is a structurally complicated
affair expected to take at least three years.
Dynamic dialogue
Olivier Bastin, recently appointed master
architect for Brussels, sees the architecture
of the city as three strands that need to be
balanced. On one side are the true patrimony
cases of pure restoration, while on the other
are the contemporary structures needed
to reflect Brussels’ role as a 21st-century
city. In between are the existing patrimony
buildings that need to develop a “dialogue
with the city”, says Bastin, who is also at
pains to point out that his remit is “not to
redesign Brussels”. On the contrary, such
60 Brussels Airlines b.there! magazine November 2010
IMAGE CORBIS
dialogue keeps buildings relevant and
usable, avoiding the fear Ingelaere has for
Brussels developing into a “museum city”.
Bastin’s own practice, l’Escaut, provides
a good example of a sensitive, modern
intervention in the Cheval Noir artists’
complex alongside the canal. On a site
beside a former brewery, l’Escaut has
created a new accommodation block, its
angular, zinc-clad faces clearly identifiable
from the old building.
Best of both worlds
The KVS theatre on Lakensestraat in
central Brussels, meanwhile, is a building
in dialogue with itself: a wonderful new
concrete bowl of an auditorium has been
inserted within the ornate Flemish neo-
Renaissance exterior. On a larger scale
are the underground railway platforms
beneath Antwerp Centraal station. A huge
tunnel was driven under the station, allowing
its transformation into a route for the
high-speed rail network across Europe.
The fin de siècle excesses of the original
glass-topped train shed are matched by the
effortless simplicity of architect Jacques
Voncke to allow daylight to flow right down
to the deepest platforms.
IMAGE ALAMY
No review of Belgium’s architectural
heritage would be complete without
a mention of the ‘never to come down’
scaffolding on Brussels’ Palais de Justice.
The gilded dome was finally revealed a few
years ago, much to the delight of citizens
and tourists, but the rest of the scaffold has
been up for so long that it now needs its own
refurbishment. There seems to be an end in
sight, however. Ingelaere says, “We expect
to have at least some of the scaffold down
within a year,” while an international design
competition, Brussels Courthouse: Imagine
the Future, is also promising. A decision
about the exact use for the building has
yet to be made, but judging will take place
by the end of the year.
In Belgium, developing coordinated
polices across federal, regional and local
administrations is a tall order made more
complicated by the vested interests of
those either side of the language divide. In
fact, it’s a wonder so much of the country’s
architectural heritage has been saved. And
there’s no better time to experience it; the
latest projects were mostly initiated long
before the current global financial crisis, and
there may well be a lull before such a wealth
of opportunities come around again.