Vestiges of the past
Belgium has always been a land of builders, as witnessed by the astonishing Neolithic flint mines at Spiennes. As places where flint was extracted and cut, they heralded the country's rich industrial future. The Romans, for their part, left numerous traces of their science of engineering and town planning. Cities such as Tongeren, Tournai and Arlon are ancient Roman towns that developed at the crossroads of major Roman roads. It's in Arlon that you'll find the finest examples of Roman architecture: towers, ramparts and thermal baths bear witness to the Roman genius for combining pragmatism and comfort. Then it was the turn of the Carolingians to make their mark. Charlemagne emphasized his power by returning to monumental stone architecture. From then on, churches and monasteries multiplied. As the veneration of saints and relics intensified, builders decided to add a second altar dedicated to the saints. This second choir was joined by a second transept and a second lantern tower. Everything to the east corresponds to sacred power, everything to the west corresponds to secular power, i.e. that of the emperor. From then on, the western facades were adorned with rich ornamentation in the glory of power. These western massifs feature superb galleries and tribunes. The churches of Theux and Lobbes, like the collegiate church of Sainte-Gertrude in Nivelles, are perfect examples of this style. Begun around 965, the collegiate church of Saint-Vincent in Soignies, with its double Carolingian choir, marks the transition to the solid, imposing early Romanesque style.
Romanesque developments
Generally speaking, Romanesque buildings are characterized by simplicity of plan, elevation and decoration. In Belgium, two different trends emerged. On the one hand, the Scaldian Romanesque (in the Scheldt region), and on the other, the Mosan Romanesque (in the Meuse region). In the Scaldian style, churches generally take the form of basilicas, with the addition of a transept and a crossing tower. In the Mosan style, churches are small, with no initial transept and preceded by a western bell-tower with no opening to the outside. The transept is replaced by a presbytery (a space reserved for priests), enclosing the choir and marking a clear boundary with the nave. The Mosan style follows in the footsteps of the Carolingian style, with its emphasis on the avant-corps, often flanked by stair turrets. The Mosan style gradually evolved with the addition of a transept and more elaborate decoration. As with Romanesque art in general, the emphasis shifted from massive, medium-sized buildings to taller, larger churches. The interior was also enriched. Galleries, or triforiums, were introduced above the arcades, and series of small apses with high windows framed the choir apse, while painted decorations and sculpted elements multiplied. The collegiate church of Soignies went from a Carolingian style to a superb Scaldian Romanesque, while the collegiate churches of Saint-Jean and Saint-Denis in Liège are fine examples of the evolution of Mosan Romanesque art. The Romanesque period also saw a proliferation of abbeys and monasteries, particularly Cistercian ones, as witnessed by the superb ruins ofStavelot Abbey. But Romanesque architecture was not only religious. The period was always marked by tensions, prompting cities to build powerful fortifications, such as Brussels, whose first ramparts date back to the 12th century. Civil architecture was not to be outdone, with houses featuring simple ornamentation, often embellished with defensive features, such as Ghent's Spijker, a superb warehouse house with stepped gables adorned with crenellations and merlons, giving it the appearance of a civil fortress.
Gothic effervescence
In Belgium, two styles coexist. On the one hand, Scaldian Gothic - still strongly influenced by certain Romanesque features, such as the use of side turrets, lantern towers at the transept crossing and galleries - adds pointed arches, the ambulatory running alongside the outer windows, and bays often consisting of three narrow windows joined under a single arch. The interplay of lines and forms of the Scaldian Gothic style is enhanced by the use of Tournai blue stone. The finest example is Tournai Cathedral. On the other hand, the Brabant Gothic style (in the province of Brabant) developed, with three naves and a choir surrounded by an ambulatory from which radiating chapels extend. To this, Brabant Gothic adds a massive tower-porch on the western façade. These impressive towers are directly inherited from the Carolingian Western Massif. Among the finest examples is the impressive portal bell tower at Mechelen. Rosettes and stained-glass windows have also been replaced by large skylights, creating a vertical, light-filled effect. Saints-Michel-et-Gudule in Brussels is a superb example of a Brabant building. Religious architecture was joined by powerful civil architecture. The seat of aldermenic (or communal) power is the belfry, which serves as a watchtower, arsenal, court, prison, safe, city metronome and venue for aldermenic meetings. Tournai's belfry is the oldest in Belgium. From the 13th century onwards, the bourgeoisie began building a more comfortable venue for their meetings: the market hall, which also served as the town hall. The finest examples of belfry-halls can be found in Ypres and Bruges. Airy and light, they demonstrate the stylistic evolution of belfries from purely defensive structures to ornamented ones. Ever more powerful, the aldermen now wanted a place of their own: this was the advent of the town hall, a theatrical representation of power, whose function was reflected in the particular care given to the second floor, a vast room adorned with superb fireplaces and chandeliers and opening onto the world through large windows. The town hall, built not far from the belfry and covered market, adds to the ensemble that now forms the Grand'Place, the heart of the city. Among the most beautiful town halls are those of Bruges, Leuven, Brussels and Oudenaarde. In addition, the Gothic style of the bourgeoisie is clear and functional, promoting material virtues and comfort. This can be seen in the guild houses, with their richly decorated facades topped by spandrels displaying the patron saints of the various guilds. The houses on Ghent's Quai aux Herbes, with their Flemish gabled facades, are fine examples. At the same time, a type of architecture that could be described as charitable also developed, with the proliferation of hospitals - such as the Hôpital de la Poterie in Bruges or the Hôpital de Notre-Dame-à-la-Rose in Lessines - and maisons-Dieu - a kind of village in the city financed by the faithful or guilds and intended for the elderly or needy, and consisting of a row of low, whitewashed brick houses arranged in rows or around an inner courtyard - and, of course, beguinages - a group of houses squeezed around the church, with an independent enclosure, several entrances and inhabited by lay nuns. Don't miss Bruges, Kortrijk or Lierre. Most are listed as Unesco World Heritage Sites.
From the Renaissance to the Neoclassical
Most 16th-century buildings retain their Gothic structure, to which Renaissance ornamentation is added. Engraved columns, friezes and pilasters are all reminiscent of ancient ideals, while gables change from austere tiers to airy volutes. Fine examples of Renaissance buildings include Bruges' civil registry, a marvel of balance and harmony with its Corinthian columns, friezes and antique-style medallions; orAntwerp's town hall and the guild houses on its Grand'Place. In Spanish-ruled Flanders, a Hispano-Flemish style appeared, whose exuberant decorative elements (such as turrets topped with bulbs) heralded the splendors of the Baroque period.
Baroque is the art of theatricality, of formal play and, above all, of the power of the Church, which found here the vector of its Counter-Reformation. Among the Baroque jewels not to be missed are the churches of Saint-Charles-Borromée in Antwerp and Saint-Michel in Louvain, not forgetting the incredible abbey church of the Prémontrés in Grimbergen, with its high vaults, dome and elongated choir. Baroque is also secular, as demonstrated by the Mons belfry and Rubens' superb home in Antwerp. But the finest example of civil Baroque is of course the Grand'Place in Brussels, which Cocteau described as "the most beautiful theater in the world". Destroyed by Louis XIV in 1695, the square was completely redesigned, with particular attention paid to dimensions, alignments and decorations. Medallions, garlands and bas-reliefs intertwine on the chiselled facades of the superb guild houses that frame it. A unique architectural splendor.
Baroque was still in evidence in religious buildings, but the 18th century saw the emergence of a new style characterized by rigor and serenity: neoclassicism. In the Age of Enlightenment, Antiquity was seen as the cradle of architecture and the source of the eternal laws of harmony and beauty. With Neoclassicism, ethics and morality took over from pomp and pageantry. A prime example of this style is the Palais de la Nation in Brussels, with its eight Ionic columns and bas-reliefed pediment.
Bubbling nineteenth century
At the turn of the century, neoclassicism still triumphed, as evidenced by the Royal Theatre in Brussels, the Palace of Justice in Ghent and the New Market in Bruges. Even the Grand Hornu complex, the first ideal working-class housing estate, was designed in this style! Gradually, this style evolved towards eclecticism. Classical clarity and linearity were used, to which elements from all horizons were added. At the time, Gothic architecture was highly idealized.Maredsous Abbey is a fine example. The church of Sainte-Marie in Schaarbeek, on the other hand, is a fine example of neo-Byzantine architecture. But the most astonishing building of the period is undoubtedly the Brussels Palace of Justice, a Greco-Roman behemoth whose dome dominates the entire city. A more regionalist style also emerged, known as Flemish Neo-Renaissance. This style is a blend of Italian Renaissance and medieval heritage. This style is a blend of Italian Renaissance and medieval heritage, and features watchtowers, crenellations, scrolls and pilasters. Even iron and glass architecture, symbols of progress and modernity, do not escape this historicism. Ghent station, for example, boasts two monumental neo-Baroque facades topped by a gigantic cupola. Similarly, the superb Royal Galleries in Brussels are designed in a neo-Renaissance style, with pilasters and cornices masking the metal structures. It wasn't until the genius of Balat that the exposed iron structures of the royal greenhouses at Laeken finally appeared. King Leopold II wanted these greenhouses. A builder king, he transformed the face of Brussels for good. Faced with a demographic explosion, the king wanted to completely rethink the city, taking his inspiration from Haussmann's Paris. Once the Senne had been arched and thus isolated from the city center, large boulevards and squares were created, such as Place Brouckère. Leopold II also had the Parc du Cinquantenaire built. But by the end of the century, many voices began to be raised against these sclerotic stylistic codes, and many artists wanted to create new forms... an Art Nouveau. A dynamic and progressive country, Belgium was one of the most fertile grounds for Art Nouveau. To find out more, see the dossier devoted to this astonishing period! The curves of Art Nouveau were followed by the sober lines of modernity, as heralded by the Palais Stoclet, designed by Viennese architect Josef Hoffmann. Between rationalism and ornamental richness, this incredible edifice ushers in a new era.
Laboratory of modernity
After Art Nouveau and the Belle Époque style, all in symbolism and exuberance that we find a lot in the seaside resorts of the North Sea, the inter-war period sees the reappearance of the "neo" styles styles widely used for the Reconstruction in order to reconnect with a now idealized past. After the war, there was also the problem of the lack of housing for the working classes. Belgium then became an architectural laboratory where garden cities, model cities aiming to offer a fulfilling living environment at a reasonable cost in a synthesis between town and country, multiplied. Among the most famous are the "Floréal" and "Le Logis" housing estates in Watermael-Boitsfort and the modern housing estate in Berchem-Sainte-Agathe, which won the Grand Prix at the Paris Decorative Arts Exhibition in 1925 for its avant-garde conception of housing with its cubist-style houses and small buildings. Belgium was also a fertile ground for Art Deco, with its sober geometric lines and rich ornamentation. Among the very beautiful Art Deco buildings, let's note the astonishing national basilica of the Sacred Heart of Koekelberg, whose dimensions make it the largest Art Deco building in the world. Art Deco then gave way to Modernist architecture, which can be recognized by its simple volumes, lacking in ornamentation and the use of a new material, reinforced concrete. Among the great modernist buildings, we can mention the basins of La Sauvenière in Liege, the Casino of Ostend or the Boekentoren, university library of Ghent. After the Second World War, modernist architecture was widely used in large housing projects. In the 1950s and 1960s, Brussels was transformed. Faced with the scarcity of land, speculation accelerated and many buildings as well as many working-class districts were razed. Skyscrapers multiplied, new infrastructures were created, notably in 1958 on the occasion of the Universal Exhibition, and new buildings appeared such as the administrative city and its curtain wall or the World Trade Center, typical skyscrapers of the international style (derived from the modernist and functionalist style). But to this very stereotyped architecture, some will oppose a different architecture, like the collective architecture imagined by Lucien Kroll. Chosen by the medical students of the Catholic University of Louvain, Kroll imagined, in perfect collaboration with them, the Mémé (the medical house where the students live), the university restaurant, the ecumenical center and even the Alma subway station. By collaborating with the students, Kroll was able to design living and housing units based entirely on their specific needs.
Contemporary Perspectives
In the 21st century, Belgium has become an Eldorado for starchitects. In 2006, Richard Rogers gave the city of Antwerp an incredible transparent courthouse, with astonishing steel sails overhanging its glass roof. The building was also designed to reduce the impact of architecture on the environment. In 2009, Christian de Portzamparc designed the Musée Hergé in Louvain-la-Neuve, while the same year Santiago Calatrava designed the new Guillemins station in Liège, revealing his style of boldness and lightness, notably through the large glass roof. In 2014, Jean Nouvel created the Tour Bleue in Charleroi, a cylinder of windows that let the light into... the police station that has taken up residence there! And last but not least, the incredible diamond ship designed by Zaha Hadid above Antwerp's Maison du Port? An unrivalled architectural feat. Alongside the creations of these " starchitects ", Belgian architecture is being developed by small agencies with an international reputation. Modestly taking their place in the long line of Belgian builders and architects, these new creators advocate an architecture of sobriety and economy, always in perfect harmony with its environment. The V + agency built the MAD in Brussels, while Baukunst designed the La Fraineuse sports center in Spa. Baukunst is also working on the future Maison des Médias in Brussels. Another eagerly-awaited project in Brussels is the conversion of the former Citroën garage into the Kanal-Centre Pompidou cultural center. Among the architects of this transformation is noAarchitecten, another representative of the Belgian renaissance. Proud of this incredible architectural history, Belgium is now doing everything in its power to preserve its heritage through rehabilitation, including its incredible industrial and mining heritage, some of which is listed (Grand Hornu, Blégny, Bois-du-Luc, Bois-du-Cazier).
Design made in Belgium
The history of Belgian design is not new... quite the contrary! Since the Middle Ages, the Belgians have never ceased to prove their industrial genius in converting the riches of nature into objects of function and pleasure. In the effervescence of Art Nouveau, no distinction is made between Fine Arts and Decorative Arts, the buildings become works of art where absolutely everything, from the structure to the furniture, is thought out in harmony. Gustave Serrurier-Bovy, cabinetmaker and decorator, invented the articulated furniture, a structure allowing each object to redevelop itself in its logical function. We appreciate its ornamental sobriety and the geometric order of forms. Henry Van de Velde reinvents the very notion of object with his famous flat desk, about which he will write: "The furniture declares itself what it wants to be Quite a program! A few years later, another free and whimsical spirit will revolutionize the world of design: Julien Wabbes who imagines superb furniture with slats and other curved wooden furniture that collectors today are snatching up. Maybe you can find some at the Brussels Design Market, the biggest vintage market in Europe! To learn more about the incredible history of Belgian design, visit the Ghent Design Museum or the Innovation and Design Center in Grand Hornu. Finally, if there is one design city you should not miss, it is Kortrijk. There, you can discover the Budafabriek, a former textile factory transformed into a temple of collective creation; you can discover the talents of tomorrow during the Interior Biennial and the Creative Week. In the city, don't miss the Kiosk, the window cube of local design; the K-TOTEM, a totem pole that invites a new designer to express himself every quarter; and of course the Kortrijk Weide, a recent urban site that is on the move thanks to Hangar K, its co-creation center. It's easy to understand why UNESCO has included Kortrijk in its network of creative cities!
