Bockstael : Art Déco for all

In the 19th century, like its neighbors, Laeken became a true working-class municipality, due to its proximity to the canal and railway infrastructure. The problem of housing for workers therefore became increasingly pressing: initially, private owners had sets of modest houses built facing the street, but also in dead ends, where living conditions would become sadly famous. It was not until the 1920s and the creation of the Société Nationale of Dwellings and Housing in Bon Marché that the housing conditions of workers improved. In Laeken, it is the Foyer Laekenois that is at the helm: it builds numerous housing complexes of great architectural quality. Through this visit, the ARAU invites you to discover the history of worker housing in Laeken, from 19th-century worker houses to the magnificent Art Déco, modernist or regionalist complexes, designed by renowned architects, such as Joseph Diongre, Jean-Baptiste Dewin, Joseph Van Neck, or even Paul Bonduelle. Further proof that Art Déco is not reserved for upper-class dwellings, the visit will end with the discovery of the former Karel Bogaerd Rijksnormaalschool school voor Meisjes (currently a Dutch-speaking school), a magnificent public building from the interwar period.