Villa Empain

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The Villa Empain

The Villa Empain or hôtel Empain is a building constructed in Brussels by the Belgian architect Michel Polak from 1930 to 1935 on behalf of Baron Louis Empain , son of Édouard Louis Joseph Empain , and is now a listed building. It was built in the Art Deco architectural style with strong Bauhaus influences on Avenue des Nations, today's Avenue Franklin Roosevelt 67.

The building was initially planned as a residential building, but the client quickly realized that he had created a work of art that was not suitable for living. It is controversial whether he ever actually lived in the building; it is believed to be used for about a year, after which Empain moved to Canada. Louis Empain therefore donated the villa to the Belgian state in 1937 on the condition that it could only be used as a museum. In November 1943 it was confiscated by the Wehrmacht as the seat of the local commandant for the German occupation of Belgium. After the war, Paul-Henri Spaak handed over the villa to the Soviet Union in 1947 for reasons that could no longer be clarified, regardless of the donation conditions , so that they could set up their embassy in it. This decision was challenged for years by the Empain family, citing its purpose as a museum from 1937, so that the Soviet Union had to move out in 1964 and the villa was returned to Louis Empain. He used it again as an exhibition space before selling it in 1973 to Harry Tcherkezian, an Armenian businessman based in the USA. He rented the house. From 1980 to 1993 the station RTL was a tenant. The villa then fell into disrepair and fell victim to vandalism. In 2001 it was placed on the list of Brussels' architectural heritage worth protecting and in 2006 it was bought by the Boghossian Foundation. From 2007 to 2011 the villa was restored at a cost of over 5 million euros, for which the Fondation received a Europa Nostra Prize in 2011 . The villa has been a listed building since 2007. It is the seat of the internationally active Boghossian Foundation and is also used for exhibitions.

The construction

Client Louis Empain and architect Michel Polak worked closely together on the villa's design. They combined two different influences into an integrated concept. Exceptionally elaborate materials and perfectly crafted processing of the details originate from Art Deco, the Bauhaus introduced the simple lines and the symmetrical grid, as well as the strict rejection of superfluous ornaments.

The villa is built with high quality materials: The facades are with polished Baveno - granite from Italy in disguise, various edge protectors made of brass are with gold leaf occupied. Escalette - and Bois-Jourdan - marble were used in the interior . Expensive tropical woods such as Palu wood from India , Manilkara from Venezuela , Bubunga - root wood , walnut and walnut root wood as well as rosewood and oak wood were used in floors and paneling . There were also elaborate glass mosaics and a backlit glass ceiling The Milky Way by Max Ingrand and his wife Paule .

history

The Empain family's immeasurable fortune came from the exploitation of the Belgian colony of the Congo. Édouard Louis Joseph Empain had started with a quarry in Belgium and, with personal protection from King Leopold II, built a raw materials empire in the so-called Congo Free State in Central Africa and expanded it to include branches of business mainly in French-speaking Europe. After his unexpected death in 1929, his sons Louis Empain and Jean Empain , who had been estranged from their father for years, found themselves in the management of a global corporation and restructured the company into Société Electrorail , which became Schneider-Empain and Schneider Electric through several mergers and spin-offs . While Jean Empain enjoyed the fortune and lived a playboy lifestyle, Louis Empain became involved in the company and evolved into a patron of the arts.

Together with the architect Michel Polak, Louis Empain designed the villa, which was intended as a residential building.

The Boghossian Foundation was founded by a family of Lebanese people of Armenian descent who work as jewelers and gem dealers in Antwerp and Geneva . Son Jean Boghossian chose the dilapidated Villa Empain as the future seat of the foundation and had it renovated.

literature

  • Sebastian Redecke: Splendor at any price. In: Bauwelt . 102nd volume, No. 21 (May 27, 2011), p. 26 f. ( Digitized version ).
  • Diane Hennebert: Louis Empain was looking for space. In: Bauwelt. Volume 102, No. 21 (May 27, 2011), pp. 28–35. ( Digitized version ).
  • Francis Metzger: Delune, Stoclet, Empain. In: Bauwelt. Volume 102, No. 21 (May 27, 2011), pp. 36–41. ( Digitized version ).
  • Sebastian Redecke: Monika Neuner: “A very free representation of the Milky Way.” In: Bauwelt. Volume 102, No. 21 (May 27, 2011), p. 42 f. ( Digitized version ).

documentary

  • Katharina Kastner : Villa Empain . Production: Belgium, France, Austria, Germany 2019, 16 mm, 25 min. Premiere at the Festival International de Cinema, Marseille 2019.

Web links

Commons : Villa Empain  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Fondation Boghossian: Villa Empain - Histoire (French)
  2. ↑ Unless otherwise stated, the story is based on: Diane Hennebert: Louis Empain was looking for space. In: Bauwelt. Volume 102, No. 21 (May 27, 2011), pp. 28–35. ( Digitized version ) and Fondation Boghossian: Villa Empain - Histoire (French)
  3. ^ Europa Nostra Award: Villa Empain , April 7, 2011
  4. ^ Fondation Boghossian: Villa Empain - Restoration
  5. ^ FID: Film - Villa Empain

Coordinates: 50 ° 48 '27 "  N , 4 ° 23' 3.7"  E