Brutalism in Belgium

AUTEUR(S): Pierrick de Stexhe.

TAAL: Engels.
UITGEVER: Prisme Belgium.
JAAR: 2024.
PAGINA’S: 272.
DRUK: Eerste editie.
STAAT: Nieuw (New).
UITVOERING: Hardback.
ISBN/EAN: 9782930451473
.

BESCHRIJVING

Brutalism in Belgium highlights the main Brutalist buildings in Belgium, which were constructed between 1950 and 1980. These buildings are at a watershed moment: they are being threatened with demolition, are being transformed, or are simply being abandoned. The book lists 60 buildings – in Brussels, Liège, Namur, Antwerp, Ghent, Louvain-la-Neuve, Leuven, Turnhout, Charleroi, Mons, Hasselt, Dilbeek, Harelbeke, and Oostende – whose fate is now hanging in the balance.
Each building has been photographed with a large-format black-and-white argentic camera, based on a rigorous method so as to ensure that the shots are consistent. Each negative has been developed and digitised by the author so that he keeps control of the method right through to the final result.
All the buildings selected for the project have been immortalised in six shots taken either from the front or at an angle.

The photographs are accompanied by descriptions written by Aurélien Jacob and Pierrick de Stexhe, covering the main architectural and urban features of the buildings.

The book considers brutalism through the lens of three main themes: 1. The Image, and the Magic, of Concrete by Jacinthe Gigou – 2. The Genealogy of International Brutalism – Brutalism: a Timeline by Jean-Marc Basyn – 3. Materiality by Marc Dubois