New urban map guide to Modern architecture in Brussels

Explore Brussels, the capital city of Belgium, through the lens of its Modern architecture. The Modern Brussels Map / Carte Bruxelles Moderne highlights 50 impressive buildings to see – from the iconic houses of the 1920s and 30s through to the dynamic Style 58, then Brutalism and Postmodernism.

The Modern Brussels Map / Carte Bruxelles Moderne curates the city’s finest Modern architecture of the 20th century architecture from functionalist urbanism to the dynamic Style 58. The map pinpoints 50 locations with an introduction and descriptions by Jacinthe Gigou, art and architecture historian, author and journalist, and founder and curator of the Instagram @modernista.be.

The map tells the story of Modernist architecture in Brussels; where in the early 20th-century a crop of exquisite Art Deco buildings blended functionalism with a touch of Art Nouveau flourish. A shift towards a more rational Modernism was marked by the Institut Supérieur des Arts Décoratifs de La Cambre by Henry van de Velde, built in 1927. Then, the mid-20th century saw concrete urbanism rolled out in a process later called ‘Bruxellisation’ – leaving the city with a tough reputation and the delicate details of Victor Horta’s bourgeois Art Nouveau style in its wake.

Expo 58 heralded a new dynamism in Modernist architectural design, characterised by its centre-piece, the Atomium, a giant iron crystal formation clad in stainless steel holding exhibition space and public amenities. In addition to this popular highlight, the map pinpoints buildings by architects such as Renaat Braem, Constantin Brodzki, Simone & Lucien Kroll and Léon Stynen, who brought bold geometry, organic curves and colour to Brussels Modernism.

As well as providing an irremissible tour of bold, clean civic, educational and corporate late Modernism that provides the backdrop to Brussels’ stage for Europe since the 1980s. Cultural highlights include the 1930s Citroën factory building, now owned by the Pompidou and under development and the Art Deco Villa Empain, now a gallery for contemporary art owned by the Boghossian Foundation.

There’s lots to explore. This map is an ideal guide for a city walking tour or as a graphic poster for the wall. As with all of our maps, this title is printed on recycled FSC-certified paper in the UK by Generation Press, a carbon-neutral, family-owned printer.

The map is available to purchase here. It is also included in our discounted set of European architecture (and more) maps here.