Architectural Posters of Brussels

Brussels Grand-Place: Gothic, Baroque and Gothic Revival

These five architectural posters explore the Grand-Place both as a unified cityscape and as an ensemble of highly individual buildings. Medieval urban history, Gothic civic architecture and the Baroque reconstruction after 1695 meet here in a remarkably concentrated form.

AP 550 · La Grand’ Place de Bruxelles

The Grand-Place developed from a market that already formed the economic centre of Brussels in the twelfth century. The Gothic Town Hall and the houses of the craft guilds were added in the fifteenth century. French bombardment destroyed almost the entire square in 1695, after which it was rebuilt within only a few years. Despite later restoration campaigns, its historic layout has remained largely intact. The overview poster brings together the Town Hall, Maison du Roi and several groups of guild houses as individual elevations, revealing the architectural variety within the square’s coherent composition.

AP 371 and AP 004 · Bruxelles, Hôtel de Ville

Construction of Brussels Town Hall began in 1402; the Gothic building was completed in 1454 with the installation of the Archangel Michael on the spire. Jan van Ruysbroeck’s tower, erected in 1449 and approximately 96 metres high, still dominates the skyline of the Lower Town. The Town Hall burned during the bombardment of 1695, but its walls and tower survived and were incorporated into the reconstruction. The poster shows the richly articulated square façade with its arcades, traceried windows, steep roofs and slender central tower.

AP 372 and AP 005 · Bruxelles, Maison du Roi

The French name Maison du Roi recalls the Dukes of Brabant and later Emperor Charles V; its Dutch name Broodhuis refers to the bread market that occupied the site in the thirteenth century. The early sixteenth-century predecessor was demolished in the nineteenth century because of its poor condition. Beginning in 1873, city architect Pierre-Victor Jamaer created the present Gothic Revival building from historical models. The façade depicted on the poster is therefore not surviving medieval fabric, but a historicist reconstruction. Today the building houses the Brussels City Museum.

AP 373 and AP 374 · Guild Houses of the Grand-Place

The richly decorated houses surrounding the square were closely associated with the Brussels craft guilds. After the destruction of 1695, most of their façades were rebuilt in rapid succession in 1697 and 1698. Baroque gables, sculptures, gilding and individual house signs distinguish one building from another, while coordinated building lines and proportions create the exceptional unity of the square. The two posters isolate selected rows of houses from the overall ensemble, allowing their façade compositions to be compared in particular detail.