Brutalism: six gems for fans of architecture in Brussels

Here is a house with a radical aesthetic born of the collaboration between an artist and an architect. Originally, 71 rue des Ailes housed the studio of sculptor Godefroid Devreese, built by his friend, the renowned architect Victor Horta. In 1965, another artist, Raymond Huyberechts, moved in and completely re-imagined the space. Together with architect Louis Van Hove, he transformed the original facade into a minimalist, almost blank wall, punctuated by two slender strip windows. The result is simple and effective - completely in keeping with the times! Take a moment to observe the particularly successful combination of raw concrete cornices and beams and wooden features that decorate the ground floor.

71 Rue des Ailes, Schaerbeek | Architects: Victor Horta / Louis Van Hove | Date: 1965

The legendary, bold and eminently instagrammable lines of the former headquarters of the CBR cement works are well-known to urban adventurers. Iconic oval windows with copper-coloured glass cover the entire 9 floors. The glass panes, directly embedded in concrete modules, give this modernist ocean liner of a building, designed by the architectural duo of Constantin Brodzki and Marcel Lambrichs, its unique appearance. The building has already secured its place in history on several occasions, not least in 1980 when it was selected by the Museum of Modern Art in New York as one of modern architecture’s most iconic buildings! It has also captured the imagination of many directors such as François Ozon or Jacques Brel for whom it served as a futuristic set. Enthusiasts can even set foot inside for lunch at the trendy Midori Boitsfort, a restaurant which has just opened on the ground floor.

185 Chaussée de la Hulpe, Watermael-Boitsfort | Architects: Constantin Brodzki and Marcel Lambrichs | Date: 1967-1970

A contemporary temple of literature, Bibliotheca Wittockiana is a little jewel of brutalist architecture. A Belgian Architecture Awards winner in 1983, this horizontal block of cast concrete is anchored in the ground and surmounted by a glass facade. Abundant vegetation cascades down its rough, almost monolithic walls and blends pleasantly into the scenery. Imagined as a protective box by its architect, Emmanuel de Callataÿ, it does indeed contain a treasure: a unique book museum with a collection of several thousand items, founded in 1983 by the collector Michel Wittock. Inside, between its red-lacquered wooden shelves, you will find precious books, fine bindings and contemporary works of art. Worth a visit for its architecture as well as for its collections!

21-23 Rue du Bemel, Woluwe-Saint-Pierre | Architect:  Emmanuel de Callataÿ | Date: 1981.

Amateurs will already be familiar with the famous "cigar", the futuristic building by architect Renaat Braem which houses the university rectorate, but they sometimes forget that the VUB campus is also home to a few brutalist gems. Among them is the famous Aula Q designed by the Ghent architectural firm Baro. Its cubic blocks, walls covered in grey scales and the raw concrete stairs that frame it are recognisable. Inside are the famous opening halls, which grow from 250 to 1,250 seats thanks to a revolving mechanism integrated in the walls, which play a starring role! The halls embody a rare architectural concept, firmly rooted in then-fashionable ideas about flexibility of space.

2 Boulevard de la Plaine, Etterbeek | Architect: Baro Office | Date: 1976-1977

Are geometric motifs your thing? Then head to number 30-50 Rue du Marais for a face-to-face meeting with the offices of BNP Paribas Fortis. Here, the inverted Y-shaped pattern fulfils both an aesthetic and a structural function. This makes the former SLA building one of the best-known examples of load-bearing facade elements made of architectural concrete. It is, therefore, not surprising that Marcel Lambrichs, the architect who designed the building in 1973, is seen as a functionalist capable of great work. What does the facade make you think of? A beehive, anyone?

30-50 Rue du Marais, Brussels | Architect: Marcel Lambrichs | Date: 1973