The Flagey Building (; ), also known as the Radio House (; ), is a building located in
Ixelles
(French language, French, ) or (Dutch language, Dutch, ) is one of the List of municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located to the south-east of Pentagon (Brussels), Brusse ...
, a municipality of
Brussels
Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...
, Belgium, housing the Flagey
cultural centre
A cultural center or cultural centre is an organization, building or complex that promotes culture and arts. Cultural centers can be neighborhood community arts organizations, private facilities, government-sponsored, or activist-run.
Africa
* ...
. It is located on the south-western corner of the
Place Eugène Flagey/Eugène Flageyplein, with its main entrance on the /.
The building, parts of which are
listed, was designed by the architect and completed in 1938 in
Streamline Moderne
Streamline Moderne is an international style of Art Deco architecture and design that emerged in the 1930s. Inspired by Aerodynamics, aerodynamic design, it emphasized curving forms, long horizontal lines, and sometimes nautical elements. In indu ...
, an international style of
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 ...
. It owes its name to , a Belgian lawyer and politician who was mayor of Ixelles from 1935 to 1953. It served as the former headquarters of the
Belgian National Institute of Radio Broadcasting (INR/NIR). When the broadcaster left in 1974, the building was refurbished as a cultural community centre.
History
The Flagey Building, designed by Joseph Diongre after winning a competition launched in 1933,
was opened in 1938.
[ The competition was launched to create a building to house the first national broadcaster in Belgium, the ]National Institute of Radio Broadcasting
The National Institute of Radio Broadcasting (, INR; , NIR) was the national public service broadcasting company in Belgium between 1930 and 1960.
History
Inspired by the precedent of the British Broadcasting Corporation, the INR-NIR provid ...
( or INR, or NIR) (1930–1960).[ ]Henry van de Velde
Henry Clemens van de Velde (; 3 April 1863 – 15 October 1957) was a Belgian painter, architect, interior designer, and art theorist. Together with Victor Horta and Paul Hankar, he is considered one of the founders of Art Nouveau in Belgium ...
and Victor Horta
Victor Pierre Horta (; Victor, Baron Horta after 1932; 6 January 1861 – 8 September 1947) was a Belgian architect and designer, and one of the founders of the Art Nouveau movement. He was a fervent admirer of the French architectural theoris ...
were on the jury that awarded the prize to Diongre.
The building owes its name to Eugène Flagey, a Belgian lawyer and politician who served as mayor of Ixelles from 1935 to 1953. It is designed in Streamline Moderne
Streamline Moderne is an international style of Art Deco architecture and design that emerged in the 1930s. Inspired by Aerodynamics, aerodynamic design, it emphasized curving forms, long horizontal lines, and sometimes nautical elements. In indu ...
, an international style of Art Deco, also known as '' style paquebot'' ("ocean liner style") in France. Owing to its shape somewhat resembling a ship, the building is nicknamed "Packet Boat"[ or "paquebot".] The interiors included much wood panelling
Panelling (or paneling in the United States) is a millwork wall covering constructed from rigid or semi-rigid components. These are traditionally interlocking wood, but could be plastic or other materials.
Panelling was developed in antiquity to ...
and thin tube lamps, typical of the style.[
The building garnered critical acclaim as soon as it was finished, and the qualities of the studios attracted renowned classical, contemporary and jazz musicians to perform there (including ]Chuck Berry
Charles Edward Anderson Berry (October 18, 1926 – March 18, 2017) was an American singer, guitarist and songwriter who pioneered rock and roll. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Father of Rock and Roll", he refined and de ...
, Jerry Lee Lewis
Jerry Lee Lewis (September 29, 1935October 28, 2022) was an American pianist, singer, and songwriter. Nicknamed "The Killer", he was described as "rock 'n' roll's first great wild man". A pioneer of rock and roll and rockabilly music, Lewis m ...
and Chet Baker
Chesney Henry "Chet" Baker Jr. (December 23, 1929 – May 13, 1988) was an American jazz trumpeter and vocalist. He is known for major innovations in cool jazz that led him to be nicknamed the "Prince of Cool".
Baker earned much attention and ...
[), for live concerts and recordings.][
The INR/NIR was later split into separate broadcasting entities, one for each language,] the Dutch-language VRT and the French-speaking RTBF
The ("Belgian Radio-television of the French Community"), shortened to RTBF (branded as rtbf.be), is a public broadcasting, public service broadcaster for the French Community of Belgium, French-speaking Community of Belgium. Its counterpart i ...
, before they moved out of the building completely in 1974 (after growing out of it[) and leased it to various other cultural bodies until the late 1990s.][ During this time, it was poorly maintained.][ In 1997, a working group convened to create a ]feasibility study
A feasibility study is an assessment of the practicality of a project or system. A feasibility study aims to objectively and rationally uncover the strengths and weaknesses of an existing business or proposed venture, opportunities and threats pr ...
for a complete renovation of the building.[
Established as a public limited company (]société anonyme
The abbreviation S.A. or SA designates a type of limited company in certain countries, most of which have a Romance languages, Romance language as their official language and operate a derivative of the 1804, Napoleonic, civil law (legal syste ...
), the consortium Maison de la Radio Flagey (NV Omroepgebouw Flagey[) purchased the building from the VRT and RTBF] on 30 June 1998, with 30 companies working towards saving the building. The building was extensively renovated by architects including Storme Van Ranst,[ and was reopened in 2002.][
]
Description
The building occupies a large site in the south-western corner of the square, with its main entrance on the Place Sainte-Croix. A number of trams
A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which Rolling stock, vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some ...
and buses provide transport to the location.
As a non-profit organisation
A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...
Le Flagey has the following aims:
* to create a cultural pole in Brussels, open to diverse musical styles, offering a large part to the image of different artistic disciplines;
* to create an architectural and real-estate pole by safeguarding and reallocating the former building of the RTBF;
* to create a pole at the social level by demonstrating a joint action by representatives of the country's different communities with a view to creating a cultural institution of excellence with a European vocation. It also located in between the upmarket Ixelles Ponds
The Ixelles Ponds () or Elsene Ponds () are two freshwater ponds in the Brussels municipality of Ixelles, Belgium. The ponds we can see today are those spared by a 19th-century campaign of drying the wetlands of the Maelbeek valley between La ...
and the world of immigrant cultures.
The central portion of the building is dedicated to cultural activities, with five recording studio
A recording studio is a specialized facility for Sound recording and reproduction, recording and Audio mixing, mixing of instrumental or vocal musical performances, spoken words, and other sounds. They range in size from a small in-home proje ...
s that are flexible in size and function. Part of the building is listed as a protected monument
In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...
by the Monuments and Sites Directorate of the Brussels-Capital Region.[
The institution was led by director from 2007] until 2011, and since then, by .
Recording studios
The original design incorporated twelve recording studio
A recording studio is a specialized facility for Sound recording and reproduction, recording and Audio mixing, mixing of instrumental or vocal musical performances, spoken words, and other sounds. They range in size from a small in-home proje ...
s, which were built in two acoustic towers forming the core of the building.[ The 2002 renovation restored the Flagey Building's original functions by creating a musical space with recording studios and concerts venues, allowing it to host an eclectic programme of events.
Its Studio 4 is one of the concert halls with the best acoustics worldwide, home to the ]Brussels Philharmonic
The Brussels Philharmonic is a Belgian orchestra located in Brussels. Formerly known as the Groot Symfonie-Orkest, BRT Philharmonic Orchestra, and later as the Flemish Radio Orchestra, the orchestra has been linked to the Flemish public broadc ...
.[ The whole back wall is occupied by an ]organ
Organ and organs may refer to:
Biology
* Organ (biology), a group of tissues organized to serve a common function
* Organ system, a collection of organs that function together to carry out specific functions within the body.
Musical instruments
...
, specially designed for this space and built by the Tournai
Tournai ( , ; ; ; , sometimes Anglicisation (linguistics), anglicised in older sources as "Tournay") is a city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality of Wallonia located in the Hainaut Province, Province of Hainaut, Belgium. It lies by ...
organ-builder Maurice Delmotte.[ Studio 4 is also used as a recording studio. The award-winning soundtrack, released in 2005 for ]Martin Scorsese
Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November17, 1942) is an American filmmaker. One of the major figures of the New Hollywood era, he has received List of awards and nominations received by Martin Scorsese, many accolades, including an Academ ...
's 2004 film '' The Aviator'', was recorded there, as well as the musical score of the award-winning movie '' The Artist'' in 2011.[
]
Events
Cinema
The centre has a room permanently dedicated to cinema. It screens films programmed by CINEMATEK
The Royal Belgian Film Archive (; ) is a cinematheque located in the Centre for Fine Arts, in Brussels, Belgium. It is often referred to as CINEMATEK (a homophone of ).
History
The cinematheque was established in 1938 as a film archive by H ...
(, ), usually classic films or recent curiosities that have not been distributed in the commercial network. Exceptional screenings are sometimes organised in the prestigious concert hall
A concert hall is a cultural building with a stage (theatre), stage that serves as a performance venue and an auditorium filled with seats.
This list does not include other venues such as sports stadia, dramatic theatres or convention ...
, the largest in Brussels, where a huge screen is installed for the event. In 2003, ''Playtime
''Playtime'' (stylized as ''PlayTime'' and also written as ''Play Time'') is a 1967 Satire (film and television), satirical comedy film directed and co-written by Jacques Tati. Tati also stars in the film, reprising the role of Monsieur Hulot ...
'' by Jacques Tati
Jacques Tati (; born Jacques Tatischeff, ; 9 October 1907 – 5 November 1982) was a French mime, filmmaker, actor and screenwriter. In an ''Entertainment Weekly'' poll of the Greatest Movie Directors, he was voted 46th (a list of the top 50 was ...
was screened there in its original version in 70 mm
70 mm film (or 65 mm film) is a wide high-resolution film gauge for motion picture photography, with a negative area nearly 3.5 times as large as the standard 35 mm motion picture film format. As used in cameras, the film is wid ...
, for the first time in Belgium.
The Brussels Short Film Festival
The Brussels Short Film Festival (BSFF) has been run by the non-profit organisation "Un Soir … Un Grain" since 1998. It is an annual event and has taken place every year since its inaugural event, with the exception of 2020, due to the COVID-1 ...
(BSFF) uses Flagey as one of its locations for screenings and other events. The festival then named the Brussels European Film Festival, later the Brussels Film Festival (BRFF), took place in April, and a series known as Spanish and Latin American Cinema took place in November, as of 2012.[ The first edition of the Brussels International Film Festival (BRIFF) took place in the building in 2018.]
Music
Aside from being home to the Brussels Philharmonic,[ the centre hosts ''Flagey Piano Days'' (featuring US pianist Stephen Kovacevich in 2017][), and the Brussels Jazz Festival has taken place there] since 2015. Flagey is also home to other jazz events, such as the Brussels Jazz Marathon and the Brussels Jazz Platform.
See also
* Art Deco in Brussels
* History of Brussels
Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a region of Belgium comprising 19 municipalities, including the City of Brussels, which is the capital ...
* Culture of Belgium
The culture of Belgium involves both the aspects shared by all Belgians regardless of the language they speak and the differences between the main cultural communities: the Dutch-speaking Belgians (mostly Flemish) and the French-speaking B ...
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Flagey, le
Cinemas in Brussels
Music venues in Belgium
Ixelles
Protected heritage sites in Brussels
Art Deco architecture in Belgium
Buildings and structures completed in 1938