The ( French, ) or (

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

, ), both literally the "House of the People", was a public building located on the /, in the Sablon/Zavel district of

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

, Belgium. It was one of the most influential

Art Nouveau Art Nouveau ( ; ; ), Jugendstil and Sezessionstil in German, is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. It was often inspired by natural forms such as the sinuous curves of plants and ...

buildings in Belgium and one of the most notable designs by the architect

Victor Horta Victor Pierre Horta (; Victor, Baron Horta after 1932; 6 January 1861 – 8 September 1947) was a Belgian architect and designer, and one of the founders of the Art Nouveau movement. He was a fervent admirer of the French architectural theoris ...

. Commissioned by the

Belgian Workers' Party The Belgian Labour Party (, , BWP; , , POB) was the first major socialist party in Belgium. Founded in 1885, the party achieved its first electoral breakthrough in the aftermath of World War I. It was officially disbanded after the German invasi ...

(POB/BWP), it was constructed between 1896 and 1899, and opened on 2 April 1899. The building was demolished in 1965, and a skyscraper, the Blaton Tower, was built on its site. Its demolition has been regarded as an "architectural crime" and an example of Brusselisation.

Building

was commissioned by the

(POB/BWP) to build a grandiose

people's house People's Houses () were originally leisure and cultural centres built with the intention of making art and cultural appreciation available to the working classes. The first establishment of this type appeared in Tomsk, Russian Empire in 1882. Soo ...

on the /, in the Sablon/Zavel district of

. He was assisted in this project by Richard Pringiers, who was to become the appointed architect of the party. In spite of a rather restrictive and irregular plot, along a circular square and on a slope, Horta succeeded in constructing a four-storey building with maximum functionality. It provided space for all kinds of socio-economic facilities: the ground floor was made of shops and a café restaurant; the first floor included the party's offices and meeting rooms, as well as a library; the second and third floors welcomed various multi-purpose rooms; the fourth floor was home to a large auditorium and concert hall seating over 2,000 people. Unlike Horta's houses, the decoration was kept to a minimum, as it was a purely functional building, mainly constructed in

white cast iron Cast iron is a class of iron–carbon alloys with a carbon content of more than 2% and silicon content around 1–3%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloying elements determine the form in which its car ...

(more than ) with curtain walls. Fifteen craftsmen worked for eighteen months on the

ironwork Ironwork is any weapon, artwork, utensil, or architectural feature made of iron, especially one used for decoration. There are two main types of ironwork: wrought iron and cast iron. While the use of iron dates as far back as 4000 BC, it was th ...

. The only strikingly recognisable

features of the façade were the

balustrade A baluster () is an upright support, often a vertical moulded shaft, square, or lathe-turned form found in stairways, parapets, and other architectural features. In furniture construction it is known as a spindle. Common materials used in its ...

s with curling lines, as well as a slight curving of the steel pillars supporting the roof. On the roof, the building was decorated with signs bearing the names of people who contributed to the

socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

cause, such as

Karl Marx Karl Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, political theorist, economist, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. He is best-known for the 1848 pamphlet '' The Communist Manifesto'' (written with Friedrich Engels) ...

and

Leon Blum Leon, Léon (French) or León (Spanish) may refer to: Places Europe * León, Spain, capital city of the Province of León * Province of León, Spain * Kingdom of León, an independent state in the Iberian Peninsula from 910 to 1230 and again fro ...

. As with Horta's houses, however, the building was designed to make maximum use of light, with large

skylight A skylight (sometimes called a rooflight) is a light-permitting structure or window, usually made of transparent or translucent glass, that forms all or part of the roof space of a building for daylighting and ventilation purposes. History O ...

s over the main meeting room. To make this construction possible, Horta drew no less than of plans. The building was completed in 1899 and was inaugurated in the presence of the French socialist leader

Jean Jaurès Auguste Marie Joseph Jean Léon Jaurès (3 September 185931 July 1914), commonly referred to as Jean Jaurès (; ), was a French socialist leader. Initially a Moderate Republican, he later became a social democrat and one of the first possibi ...

. Because of the experimental combination of brick, glass and steel, it was considered as a masterwork of

modern architecture Modern architecture, also called modernist architecture, or the modern movement, is an architectural movement and style that was prominent in the 20th century, between the earlier Art Deco and later postmodern movements. Modern architectur ...

. File:Maison du Peuple of the P.O.B. (Belgian Workers Party) (destroyed, Brussels), exterior 1.jpg, View from the exterior File:Maison du Peuple of the P.O.B. (Belgian Workers Party) (destroyed, Brussels) (detail).jpg, Entrance File:Maison du Peuple of the P.O.B. (Belgian Workers Party) (destroyed, Brussels), theatre hall.jpg, Theatre and Meeting Hall File:Maison du Peuple of the P.O.B. (Belgian Workers Party) (destroyed, Brussels), dining hall.jpg, Restaurant

Demolition

The Maison du Peuple was demolished in 1965, despite an international protest movement of over 700 architects, in what has been regarded as an "architectural crime". The building was dismantled entirely with the idea of rebuilding it elsewhere. However, its components were scattered in vacant lots around Brussels, and it was never reconstructed. Later, structural parts of the building were used in the ''Horta Grand Café'' in

Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...

and some of the original pieces can still be found in Horta premetro station in Saint-Gilles. The loss of the Maison du Peuple was part of the trend of Brusselisation, where many historic buildings were torn down and replaced by skyscrapers. The Maison du Peuple itself was replaced by a 26-floor office building, the Blaton Tower, built in the year immediately after the Maison du Peuple's demolition by the Blaton family.

Virtual reconstruction

Since 2014, a scientific team of the

Université libre de Bruxelles The (French language, French, ; lit. Free University of Brussels; abbreviated ULB) is a French-speaking research university in Brussels, Belgium. It has three campuses: the ''Solbosch'' campus (in the City of Brussels and Ixelles), the ''Plain ...

(ULB) and the Horta Museum is virtually rebuilding parts of the Maison du Peuple: the entrance hall, the café, the staircase, the concert hall, the Matteoti Hall and the surroundings. The first results can be seen in the Horta Museum: a photorealistic 8-minute movie and a tablet app with navigable 360° renderings.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* Jean Delhaye and Françoise Dierkens-Aubry, ''La Maison du Peuple de Victor Horta'' (in French), 1987, ISBN 9782870120019

External links

*
Historical images
{{Art Nouveau architecture in Brussels Headquarters of political parties City of Brussels Victor Horta buildings Art Nouveau architecture in Brussels Art Nouveau commercial buildings Demolished buildings and structures in Belgium Commercial buildings completed in 1899 1899 establishments in Belgium Buildings and structures demolished in 1965