The Belgian Building, also known as the Belgian Friendship Building and Belgian Pavilion, is a historic building complex located in

Richmond, Virginia Richmond ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. Incorporated in 1742, Richmond has been an independent city (United States), independent city since 1871. ...

, United States. It was originally constructed as the exhibition hall for the nation of

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

at the

1939 New York World's Fair The 1939 New York World's Fair (also known as the 1939–1940 New York World's Fair) was an world's fair, international exposition at Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, New York City, New York, United States. The fair included exhibitio ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. One of the few buildings constructed for the fair that was designed to last beyond the event's end, the complex was initially intended to be reconstructed in Belgium following the conclusion of the fair. Due to Belgium's occupation by

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, however, the building was instead donated to the

Virginia Union University Virginia Union University is a Private university, private Historically black colleges and universities, historically black university in Richmond, Virginia. History The American Baptist Home Mission Society (ABHMS) founded the school as Rich ...

in Richmond. The facility was deconstructed in New York, shipped to Virginia, and reassembled on Virginia Union's campus. The complex served first as a new soldier processing location for the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

, then later as a

gym A gym, short for gymnasium (: gymnasiums or gymnasia), is an indoor venue for exercise and sports. The word is derived from the ancient Greek term " gymnasion". They are commonly found in athletic and fitness centres, and as activity and learn ...

library A library is a collection of Book, books, and possibly other Document, materials and Media (communication), media, that is accessible for use by its members and members of allied institutions. Libraries provide physical (hard copies) or electron ...

, and classroom space for Virginia Union. The gym portion of the complex was renamed Barco-Stevens Hall, and , still hosted collegiate athletic events. The building was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1970.

Architecture

The Belgian Building was designed by Belgian architects Victor Bourgeois and Leon Stynen with Henry van de Velde directing the project. It was done in the

International Style The International Style is a major architectural style and movement that began in western Europe in the 1920s and dominated modern architecture until the 1970s. It is defined by strict adherence to Functionalism (architecture), functional and Fo ...

and was intentionally constructed entirely of materials of Belgian origin in a symbolic gesture of the exhibition's home. The red

tile Tiles are usually thin, square or rectangular coverings manufactured from hard-wearing material such as ceramic, Rock (geology), stone, metal, baked clay, or even glass. They are generally fixed in place in an array to cover roofs, floors, wal ...

s and black

slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous, metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade, regional metamorphism. It is the finest-grained foliated metamorphic ro ...

that comprise the structure's exterior were sourced from

Flanders Flanders ( or ; ) is the Dutch language, Dutch-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, la ...

and the

Ardennes The Ardennes ( ; ; ; ; ), also known as the Ardennes Forest or Forest of Ardennes, is a region of extensive forests, rough terrain, rolling hills and ridges primarily in Belgium and Luxembourg, extending into Germany and France. Geological ...

, respectively, and the

plate glass Plate glass, flat glass or sheet glass is a type of glass, initially produced in plane form, commonly used for windows, glass doors, transparent walls, and windscreens. For modern architectural and automotive applications, the flat glass is ...

that features prominently at the site came from the Walloon Region. The facility was one of the few built for the world's fair that was intended to exist beyond that event's completion. It covers approximately and was constructed in an irregular U-shape. Large spaces occupy opposite ends of the U with a smaller partitioned section connecting the two. A tower rises over the southwest corner of the building. The tower's base features two

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...

bas relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces remain attached to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb , to raise (). To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...

panels representing the culture of the

Belgian Congo The Belgian Congo (, ; ) was a Belgian colonial empire, Belgian colony in Central Africa from 1908 until independence in 1960 and became the Republic of the Congo (Léopoldville). The former colony adopted its present name, the Democratic Repu ...

. A third panel elsewhere on the building's exterior depicts Belgian

trade Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market. Traders generally negotiate through a medium of cr ...

History

The Belgian Building's existence began in

itself, where the structure was originally constructed before being taken apart and shipped to the United States in advance of its construction for the

. The Belgian

ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or so ...

to the United States laid the structure's

cornerstone A cornerstone (or foundation stone or setting stone) is the first stone set in the construction of a masonry Foundation (engineering), foundation. All other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entir ...

Flushing Meadows–Corona Park Flushing Meadows–Corona Park (often referred to as Flushing Meadows Park or simply Flushing Meadows or Corona Park) is a public park in the northern part of Queens in New York City, New York, U.S. It is bounded by Interstate 678 (New York), ...

in 1938. The pavilion opened at the fair in May 1939. Former president

Herbert Hoover Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964) was the 31st president of the United States, serving from 1929 to 1933. A wealthy mining engineer before his presidency, Hoover led the wartime Commission for Relief in Belgium and ...

was the guest of honor at the opening night dinner, and was praised for his humanitarian efforts in Belgium during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. The exhibition made headlines in June 1940 when the building lost power during a display of $2,000,000 worth of precious gems. The women modelling the jewels guarded by heavily-armed security were rushed to a secure area until the lights came back on 45 minutes later. In May 1940, the pavilion closed abruptly, which was likely a result of the German invasion of Belgium earlier that month. It reopened days later but without the previously displayed bust of King Leopold III, which was ordered removed from the exhibition by the Belgian government following the king's capitulation to Germany. The king's surrender prevented the building's planned return to Belgium following the conclusion of the fair. The

Belgian government in exile The Belgian Government in London (; ), also known as the Pierlot IV Government, was the government in exile of Belgium between October 1940 and September 1944 during World War II. The government was wikt:tripartite, tripartite, involving minis ...

sponsored a competition to determine the building's new home.

, a historically Black institution in

, ultimately won the prize due largely to both its need for the facility as well as having a suitable location to place it. The gift of the $700,000 building still required significant

fundraising Fundraising or fund-raising is the process of seeking and gathering voluntary financial contributions by engaging individuals, businesses, charitable foundations, or governmental agencies. Although fundraising typically refers to efforts to gathe ...

by the school, as the process of disassembly in New York, transport, and reconstruction in Richmond was expected to cost $800,000. The move was overseen by the Belgian architect Dr. Hugo Van Kuyck, and the African American architect Charles Thaddeus Russell supervised the reconstruction of the building on the Virginia Union grounds. The same group of Belgian contractors who erected the building in New York went to Virginia to execute the task there. The Belgian Friendship Building was chosen as the facility's name once on the Virginia Union campus. It was eventually rebuilt largely as it appeared in New York and adapted to the university's needs, though fund shortages necessitated the complex to be constructed in phases. The auditorium portion of the facility was converted to a

, while the opposite end became a

with a 94,000 volume capacity. The connecting portion of the structure became science-related classrooms and laboratories. The tower, located on the southwest corner of the structure, was named after Robert Lee Vann, a Pittsburgh-area publisher and alum of Virginia Union. Originally a music tower, it held a 35-bell

carillon A carillon ( , ) is a pitched percussion instrument that is played with a musical keyboard, keyboard and consists of at least 23 bells. The bells are Bellfounding, cast in Bell metal, bronze, hung in fixed suspension, and Musical tuning, tu ...

during its time at the fair. However, those bells were donated by the Belgian government in 1941 to former president Hoover, who in turn gave them to his alma mater

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

. The carillon was augmented by a 2022 addition of 13 more bells and was operational in Stanford's

Hoover Tower Hoover Tower is a structure on the campus of Stanford University in Stanford, California, United States. The tower houses the Hoover Institution Library and Archives, an archive collection founded by Herbert Hoover before he became president of ...

. In 2004, a fundraising effort began with the goal of acquiring new bells for the Belgian Building tower. Three years later, it was announced that the Belgian government had offered to purchase and donate a set of four bells from The Verdin Company. During the building's gradual reconstruction on the Virginia Union campus in the 1940s, it served as a processing station for the United States Army. Roughly 160,000 soldiers passed through the facility by 1947. The bas reliefs carved into the tower proved controversial around this time; some felt the depiction of the Belgian Congo glorified

colonialism Colonialism is the control of another territory, natural resources and people by a foreign group. Colonizers control the political and tribal power of the colonised territory. While frequently an Imperialism, imperialist project, colonialism c ...

, and concerns about the figures' nudity resulted in

shrub A shrub or bush is a small to medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees by their multiple ...

s being planted to shield the art from the street. The Belgian Building was listed on the

in 1970. In 1994, the building's tower underwent a $300,000 restoration. It was repaired again after suffering damage from

Hurricane Isabel Hurricane Isabel was a Category 5 Atlantic hurricane that struck the east coast of the United States in September 2003. The ninth named storm, fifth hurricane, and second major hurricane of the season, Isabel formed in the eastern Atlantic ...

in 2003. Following Virginia Union's late 1990s construction of a separate library facility named for former student and later Virginia governor Douglas Wilder, the previous library space in the Belgian Building was occupied by the school's music and arts programs. In 2019, Virginia Union received a $500,000 grant to assist in renovations and repairs to the building. The gym, by then known as Barco-Stevens Hall, received improvements that included an upgraded

HVAC Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC ) is the use of various technologies to control the temperature, humidity, and purity of the air in an enclosed space. Its goal is to provide thermal comfort and acceptable indoor air quality. ...

system. While there had been plans to build a dedicated athletic center for the school, , the renovated facility still hosted the school's collegiate basketball games.

Gallery

File:The_Belgium_Pavilion,_New_York_Worlds_Fair.jpg File:OBLIQUE_VIEW_FROM_SE_-_Belgian_Building,_Lombardy_Street_and_Brook_Road,_Richmond,_Independent_City,_VA_HABS_VA,44-RICH,110-4.tif File:GENERAL_VIEW_FROM_SE_-_Belgian_Building,_Lombardy_Street_and_Brook_Road,_Richmond,_Independent_City,_VA_HABS_VA,44-RICH,110-3.tif File:PIERS_OF_ARCADE_-_Belgian_Building,_Lombardy_Street_and_Brook_Road,_Richmond,_Independent_City,_VA_HABS_VA,44-RICH,110-5.tif File:VIEW SHOWING TOWER - Belgian Building, Lombardy Street and Brook Road, Richmond, Independent City, VA HABS VA,44-RICH,110-2.tif File:SCULPTED_CORNERSTONE_AT_BASE_OF_TOWER_-_Belgian_Building,_Lombardy_Street_and_Brook_Road,_Richmond,_Independent_City,_VA_HABS_VA,44-RICH,110-6.tif File:CLOSE_UP_VIEW_OF_CORNERSTONE_-_Belgian_Building,_Lombardy_Street_and_Brook_Road,_Richmond,_Independent_City,_VA_HABS_VA,44-RICH,110-7.tif

References

External links

Belgian Building, Lombardy Street & Brook Road, Richmond, Independent City, VA
7 photos, 1 color transparency, and 2 photo caption pages at

Historic American Buildings Survey The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

{{Authority control Historic American Buildings Survey in Virginia University and college buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Virginia Belgium–United States relations Buildings and structures in Richmond, Virginia 1939 New York World's Fair World's fair architecture in the United States Architecture in Belgium Virginia Union University Relocated buildings and structures in Virginia Modernist architecture in Virginia National Register of Historic Places in Richmond, Virginia Sports venues in Richmond, Virginia Henry van de Velde buildings Towers in Virginia

Architecture

History

Gallery

See also

References

External links