Maison du Peuple, Brussels

{{Short description|Demolished public building in Brussels, Belgium}}

{{Infobox building

| name = {{unbulleted list|{{native name|fr|Maison du Peuple}}|{{native name|nl|Volkshuis}}}}

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| namesake = Workers (Belgian Workers' Party)

| image = Maison du Peuple of the P.O.B. (Belgian Workers Party) (destroyed, Brussels), exterior 3 (cropped).jpg

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| caption = View of the {{lang|fr|Maison du Peuple|italic=no}}/{{lang|nl|Volkshuis|italic=no}} in the late 19th century or early 20th century

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| address = {{lang|fr|Place Emile Vandervelde|italic=no}} / {{lang|nl|Emile Vanderveldeplein|italic=no}}

| location_town = 1000 City of Brussels, Brussels-Capital Region

| location_country = Belgium

| coordinates = {{coord|50|50|28|N|4|21|9|E|type:landmark_region:BE|display=inline,title}}

| status = Demolished

| building_type = Political headquarters premises

| architectural_style = Art Nouveau

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| start_date = {{start date|1896}}

| completion_date = {{end date|1899}}

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| demolition_date = 1965

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| material = White cast iron

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| architect = Victor Horta

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The {{lang|fr|Maison du Peuple|italic=no}} (French, {{IPA|fr|mɛzɔ̃ dy pœpl|pron}}) or {{lang|nl|Volkshuis|italic=no}} (Dutch, {{IPA|nl|ˈvɔlksˌɦœys|pron}}), both literally the "House of the People", was a public building located on the {{lang|fr|Place Emile Vandervelde|italic=no}}/{{lang|nl|Emile Vanderveldeplein|italic=no}}, in the Sablon/Zavel district of Brussels, Belgium. It was one of the most influential Art Nouveau buildings in Belgium and one of the most notable designs by the architect Victor Horta.{{cite journal|last=Thake|first=Conrad|date=2011|title=A PROJECT FOR A 'CENTRO D'ITALIANITÀ' IN MALTA|url=http://mhs.eu.pn/mh4/201106.html|publisher=Malta Historical Society|journal=Melita Historica|volume=XV|issue=4|pages=434–436|issn=1021-6952|oclc=472457132|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20161217005024/http://mhs.eu.pn/mh4/201106.html|archivedate=17 December 2016}} Commissioned by the Belgian Workers' Party (POB/BWP), it was constructed between 1896 and 1899, and opened on 2 April 1899.{{Cite news|url=https://www.brusselslife.be/en/article/the-disappearance-of-the-maison-du-peuple-or-the-assassination-of-victor-horta|title=The Disappearance of the Maison du Peuple or the assassination of Victor Horta|website=www.brusselslife.be|access-date=2018-08-19|language=en}}

The building was demolished in 1965, and a skyscraper, the Blaton Tower, was built on its site.{{Cite web|url=http://www.cupola.com/html/bldgstru/artnouv/slide/peupl01e.htm|title=Cupola's Art Nouveau Architecture - Maison du Peuple|website=www.cupola.com|accessdate=Sep 11, 2020}} Its demolition has been regarded as an "architectural crime" and an example of Brusselisation.

Building

Victor Horta was commissioned by the Belgian Workers' Party (POB/BWP) to build a grandiose people's house on the {{lang|fr|Place Emile Vandervelde|italic=no}}/{{lang|nl|Emile Vanderveldeplein|italic=no}}, in the Sablon/Zavel district of Brussels. He was assisted in this project by Richard Pringiers, who was to become the appointed architect of the party.

File:Victor Horta (cropped).jpg]]

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.{{Cite web|url=http://www.ebru.be/Architectuur/archvolkshuis.html|title=eBru {{!}} La Maison du Peuple {{!}} Victor Horta {{!}} Art nouveau {{!}} Bruxelles|website=www.ebru.be|access-date=2018-08-19}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.theartstory.org/artist-horta-victor-artworks.htm|title=Victor Horta Most Important Art {{!}} TheArtStory|work=The Art Story|access-date=2018-08-19|language=en-US}}

Unlike Horta's houses, the decoration was kept to a minimum, as it was a purely functional building, mainly constructed in white cast iron (more than {{Convert|600000|kg||abbr=on|disp=sqbr}}) with curtain walls. Fifteen craftsmen worked for eighteen months on the ironwork. The only strikingly recognisable Art Nouveau features of the façade were the balustrades 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 cause, such as Karl Marx and Leon Blum. As with Horta's houses, however, the building was designed to make maximum use of light, with large skylights over the main meeting room. To make this construction possible, Horta drew no less than {{Convert|8500|m2||abbr=on}} of plans.

The building was completed in 1899 and was inaugurated in the presence of the French socialist leader Jean Jaurès. Because of the experimental combination of brick, glass and steel, it was considered as a masterwork of modern architecture.

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

File:Brussel, Emile Vanderveldenplein-PM 50988.jpg

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 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 (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.{{Cite web|url=https://actus.ulb.be/fr/actus/enseignement/la-reconstitution-virtuelle-de-la-maison-du-peuple-de-victor-horta|title=Reconstitution virtuelle de la Maison du peuple de Victor Horta|website=actus.ulb.be|accessdate=Sep 11, 2020}}{{Cite web|url=https://actus.ulb.be/medias/fichier/2019-12-mdp-press-fr_1576503918926-pdf?ID_FICHE=15316&INLINE=FALSE|title=Dossier de presse La Maison du Peuple de Victor Horta : Visite Virtuelle|website=actus.ulb.be|accessdate=Sep 11, 2020|archive-date=20 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191220155402/https://actus.ulb.be/medias/fichier/2019-12-mdp-press-fr_1576503918926-pdf?ID_FICHE=15316&INLINE=FALSE|url-status=dead}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.hortamuseum.be/en/Welcome|title=Hortamuseum - Welcome|website=www.hortamuseum.be|accessdate=Sep 11, 2020}}{{Cite web|url=https://archi.ulb.be/medias/fichier/invitation-maison-du-peuple_1575641090235-pdf|title=Inauguration de la reconstitution virtuelle de la Maison du Peuple de Victor Horta|website=archi.ulb.be}}