Postmodern architecture in Belgium

In Belgium, postmodernism in architecture appeared in the late 1970s, as a reaction to modernist and functionalist architecture, with the construction of the “Stephanie 1″ building by the Atelier d’architecture de Genval, founded by André Jacqmain..

It dominates the architecture of office buildings in major cities during the 1980s, 1990s, 2000s and 2010s.

History
International History
In contrast to Art Deco, born like it in the 1920s, modernist architecture turns its back on the architectural traditions of the past, favors the function and banishes the ornamentation to reduce the architecture to a game of volumes and surfaces.

After the Second World War, modernism mutated and engendered the functionalism that completely dominated architecture during the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s: ” It will be necessary to wait for the change of scale introduced by the reconstruction (…) after the Second World War. world for modernism to impose itself by its only economic aspect. But it will then apply to large ensembles and large-scale operations that will reveal its inhumanity and make it lose its poetic dimension “.

A reaction to half a century of modernism and functionalism was born in the late 1970s: postmodernism, ” an architectural current born in reaction to modernism, bringing up to date some ornamental forms from the architecture of the past. (classicism, Art Deco, etc.) ” .

Postmodernism, which can be described as “neo-eclecticism”, rediscovers the architectural traditions of the past with which modernism wanted to break, re-write (following Robert Venturi and Charles Jencks) architecture in the general history artistic movements and dedicates the return of ornamentation, decor and elements inherited from the past such as columns, pilasters, arches and pediments.

History in Belgium
The pioneering role of the Architecture Workshop of Genval
In Belgium, postmodern architecture appeared in the late 1970s with the construction of the “Stéphanie” building and a postmodern apartment building (rue de Belle-Vue) the Atelier d’architecture de Genval, founded in 1967 by André Jacqmain at the completion of the Glaverbel building in Watermael-Boitsfort.

With the “Stephanie 1” and her twin “Stephanie Square”, the Architecture Workshop of Genval introduced in Belgium a style combining the stone, the marble and the ornaments in bronze and stainless steel.

Later, Atelier de Genval turned to the combination of stone, blue glass and stainless steel ornaments, such as the headquarters of the French Community of Belgium (1986-1992), Espace Léopold (headquarters of the European Parliament, including the Altiero Spinelli building, 1987-2004), the “North Gate” (1995), the “Sapphire” (2003), “Espace Meeus”, “The Capital”…

Contributing factors to the development of postmodernism
Several factors specific to Brussels play a certain role in the development of postmodernism in this city:

first, the desire for a return of beauty in the streets of Brussels after the ravages of Brussels, a term which refers to the urban deterioration of a city delivered to property developers, phenomenon which had to suffer at Brussels era of functionalist architecture: the destruction of the North Quarter razed in the 1960s by the real estate developer Charlie de Pauw who dreamed of erecting a small Manhattan, erection of many towers scattered around the city, without aesthetic value or integration with the urban fabric… This aesthetic aspiration will lead to the facelift of several Brussels skyscrapers, adorned with new postmodern clothes 4, such as the Madou tower, the tower of the Midi, the finance tower, the AG tower (renamed Bastion Tower) or the Astro tower ;

in addition, the opportunity represented by the presence (precisely) of this North razed Quarter which waited for its re-urbanization during the years 1970 and 1980;

secondly, the development of the European institutions leading to the construction of the seat of the European Parliament 7 (the flagship of postmodernism in Belgium), the Justus Lipsius building, the Belliard street bridge, the headquarters of the European Office the fight against fraud as well as that of numerous “Directorates-General” such as DG Employment, DG Information Society, DG Personnel & Administration, DG Budget…

and finally the development of Flemish institutions in Brussels, which leads the Flemish government not only to invest and renovate historical places in the capital such as the Martyrs’ Square, but also to bring out of the ground brand new buildings adorned with the finery of triumphant postmodernism (buildings “Hendrik Conscience”, “Graaf de Ferraris”, “Noord Building”) 8.

Stylistic trends
Postmodern architecture in Belgium presents, in addition to its main trend, several stylistic variants inspired by neoclassicism, the Viennese Secession, Art Deco and even… functionalism!

Main current of postmodernism
The mainstream postmodernism, which combines stone, blue glass and stainless ornamentation, is represented mainly by the Genval Architecture Workshop (the founder of the genre in Belgium, see above), Michel Jaspers, CERAU, Montois Partners and the CDG office.

The most monumental example is the European Parliament (officially Espace Leopold) and its two main buildings, the Paul-Henri Spaak building and the Altiero Spinelli building.

Postmodernism of neoclassical tendency
Neo-classical postmodernism is represented in Belgium, for example, by the headquarters of SWIFT built by the Spanish architect Ricardo Bofill, by the “Orion Center” of José Vanden Bossche, by the municipal square of Auderghem built by the ASSAR Architects ‘ Office, the “Office Park Rozendal” by Wolf and Conreur or the Méridien Hotel by Jacques Cuisinier.

Postmodernism tinged with Viennese Secession
The Viennese Secession-style postmodernism features a number of Brussels buildings, such as the headquarters of the insurance company ABB, erected by the Group Planning rue d’Arlon, or the “Gerling Haus” (René Stapels – 1988) which stands… right next to the Palais Stoclet

Postmodernism inspired Art Deco
The spirit of Art Deco marks certain works by CERAU (Electrabel, “Ardenne Atrium”), Michel Jaspers (Tractebel, “Ariane”, Radisson Hotel SAS, Kredietbank, Ministry of Foreign Affairs) and the majority of buildings designed by the Urban Art Workshop.

Postmodernism of Functionalist Tendencies

The high-rise buildings of the postmodern era do not present any neo-classical ornamentation, Secession or Art Deco, but are presented as an embellished version of the skyscrapers typical of functionalist architecture, using often the blue glass, possibly in combination with the stone (as in the case of the Finance Tower revamped by Jaspers).

This continuation of functionalism is not in itself a contradiction if one keeps in mind that postmodernism intends to restore continuity with the styles of the past: it would be paradoxical to restore this continuity but to deny functionalism.

These postmodern skyscrapers result:

the facelift of a functionalist style tower:
Tour du Midi, Tour des Finances, Madou Tower (renamed “Madou Plaza Tower”), “Botanic Building”, Tour AG (renamed “Bastion Tower”)
the destruction of a functionalist style tower followed by a new construction:
Rogier Tower (formerly Dexia Tower) on the site of the Rogier International Center, Central Plaza (site of the former National Lottery Tower)
of a new construction:
” North Galaxy Towers “, “Covent Garden”, ” Ellipse building “, “The One”
The role of forerunner of the functionalist architect Henri Montois, who already announces the postmodern blue glass towers with the “Louise / Claus” building built in 1974 and the “Blue Tower” on Avenue Louise, will not be overlooked here. (formerly “tour SAIFI”) realized in 1976, before Jacqmain launched the postmodernism in Belgium

Postmodern Architects
Here is the list of architects and postmodern architects offices active in Belgium, classified according to the date of the beginning of their postmodern production.

Here we give only a few examples and refer to the detailed articles for references.

Architects and Architects’ Offices

1973 Genval Architecture Workshop
“Stéphanie 1”, “Stéphanie Square”, “Marquis”, French Community of Belgium, Espace Léopold (seat of the European Parliament, in association with CERAU and Group T), “Tour Baudouin”, Headquarters of the European Office of Anti-fraud campaign (OLAF), “North Gate”, new Brussels-Luxembourg station, “Botanic Building”, “Sapphire”, “Espace Meeus”, “The Capital”

1983 Group Planning
Belliard Street Footbridge, ABB Insurance Company, BACOB Bank

1985 CDG
” Justus Lipsius Building “, “Alma Square”, “Alma Court”
1985 Alphonse Hoppenbrouwers
EHSAL

1985 A. Nève and G. Vranckx
T’Serclaes building (rue Montagne aux Herbes Potagères, formerly KBC, now EHSAL)

1985-1986 Bureau A2RC and URBAT
Renovation of the Théâtre de la Monnaie (high parts renovated in postmodern style), “Gateway” (Deloitte headquarters, with Jaspers)

1986 Henri Montois Architecture Office
Dautzenberg Residence, Citibank, CFE headquarters, “Regent 44″, Pfizer, ” North Galaxy Towers ” (with Jaspers and Art & Build), ” Covent Garden “, ” Ellipse building ”

1986 Michel Marijnissen
“Woluwe Gardens”, “North Plaza” (with Jaspers), “Triumph III”, Headquarters of the World Customs Organization (with Jaspers), “Woluwe Heights” (with Altiplan)

1987 CERAU
Espace Léopold (seat of the European Parliament, in association with the Genval Architecture Workshop and Group T), headquarters of Electrabel (Regent II building), new Brussels-Luxembourg station, “Ardenne Atrium” (building for use of offices for the European Parliament, located against the Altiero Spinelli building), “Plain 9”, “Plain 11”, “Throne-Idalie”, Waterloo Office Park, “Zenith Building”

1987 René Stapels (architect from functionalism)
“Green Dog” (Tervuren Avenue 300, dismantled in 2017), “Gerling Haus”, Bull Building, “Astronomy”

1988 ASSAR Architects Office
“Goemaere”, Auderghem Common Square (neo-classical postmodernism), “Schuman 3”, “Madou Plaza” (renovation of the Madou Tower), new NATO HQ (with Skidmore, Owings and Merrill)

1988 Michel Jaspers
Tractebel, “Ariane”, Radisson SAS Hotel (with the Urban Art Workshop), Kredietbank Headquarters,, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (“Egmont I” and “Egmont II”), “Graaf de Ferraris”, “Hendrik Conscience “,” Extensa Square “, World Customs Organization, Casterman,” Boreal “(Proximus),” North Galaxy Towers “(with Montois and Art & Build), Rogier Tower, Lex, renovation of the Tour du Midi, renovation of the Finance Tower, Gateway (Deloitte headquarters, with A2RC)

1989 Urban Art Workshop (AAU, become Vizzion Architects)
Radisson SAS Hotel (with Michel Jaspers), France Representation to the European Union, Kredietbank (with Michel Jaspers), Spatial Entry of Sabena Air Terminus, Zurich Insurance, Casterman (with Michel Jaspers), renovation of the “City 2” shopping center, “Dexia Meeus”, “Galilee Building” (Dexia), Elia, Distrigaz, Radisson SAS EU Brussels, “Luxembourg”

1990 Altiplan
Antares, Artemis Square, Woluwe Heights (with Marijnissen), Tesoris, Renovation of the Astro Tower

1991 DSW Architects
Headquarters of IBA in Louvain-la-Neuve, headquarter of Unilever in Forest, “CIP – Cluster Center” and “CIP – Silver House” in Zaventem, Volvo Headquarters in Berchem-Sainte-Agathe, “Axis Parc” and “Axis Parc Newtech” in Mont-Saint-Guibert, “New Tech Center” in Louvain-la-Neuve, “Nivaxis” in Nivelles

1993 Arte Polis
Renovation of AG Tower (renamed “Bastion Tower”), “Park Leopold – Cobepa”, “Science Montoyer”

1994 Wolf and Conreur
“Office Park Rozendal” (Terhulpsesteenweg, against Groenendael station)

1995 Group Sigma Architecture
Business Park “Les Collines de Wavre” and “GSK Footbridge” in Wavre, “Lion’s Office” and “Baxter Parc de l’Alliance” in Braine l’Alleud, “Cercle du Lac” in Louvain-la-Neuve

2002 Art & Build
” North Galaxy Towers ” (with Jaspers and Montois), “Central Plaza” (with Montois), ” Covent Garden (with Montois)”, ” Ellipse building ” (with Montois), “Black Pearl”, “Bruxsel Docks”

2004 B2Ai
“Accent Business Park” (Roeselare), “Pogano” (Ghent), “De Warande” (Wetteren), “Offices B8” (Roeselare), “The One” (Etterbeek)

Foreign architects active in Belgium
1989 Ricardo Bofill (Spanish architect)
Headquarters of SWIFT (1989, La Hulpe)
1998 Helmut Jahn (German architect based in Chicago)
Renovation of the ” Charlemagne ” in 1998 (rue de la Loi 170, building occupied by the European Commission)
2012 Baumschlager Eberle
“Montagne du Parc”, BNP Paribas Fortis ‘ new headquarters, Parc du Parc, Ravenstein and Baron Horta streets (competition in 2012-2014, demolition of the former head office in 2015-2017 which was visible from the center of the park Brussels, completion of construction planned for 2021)

Functional buildings transformed in the postmodern era
As mentioned above, several functionalist buildings were either transformed into postmodern style, or demolished and rebuilt in this style.

The “Regent 44” building (Regent boulevard 44 in Brussels) is an excellent example of postmodern transformation. The original building (architect P. Eenens, 1966 16) had a facade of concrete and glass of a functionalist style of great banality. The architecture office Henri Montois has dressed this facade of blue glass and polished granite 16 and has punctuated it with pilasters of colossal order decorated, at the base, rudentures (grooves) and, at the top, of metal ornaments evoking capitals, reintroducing as follows:

the reference to styles of the past that had been abolished by functionalism (pilasters, rudentures and capitals inherited from Greco-Roman architecture);
ornaments;
natural stone generally banned by functionalist architecture (except Glaverbel headquarters and the Hilton Hotel);
beauty, resulting from the combination of blue glass, polished granite and ornaments.

The table below shows the most striking of these transformations, with the new name of the building and the name of the architect or postmodern architectural firm that transformed it:

Postmodern style sculptures
Several postmodern Belgian buildings are adorned with postmodern sculptures.

As an example, the following sculptures by Jean-Paul Laenen :

statues of Athena and Hermes adorning the top of the facade of the EHSAL High School
Breadcrumb trail, group of statues adorning the gateway of the European Parliament, rue Belliard
sculpture adorning the atrium of the headquarters of Electrabel.

Source From Wikipedia