Cité-Jardin de la Roue, Brussels

In the twenty-year period when the garden city movement flourished in Belgium several medium to small sized developments were built, mostly near large cities. The ideas for building these garden villages to relieve larger cities by building self-sufficient neighbourhoods come from England and the Netherlands (mainly through the book Tuinsteden by  G Feenstra from 1920). The aim was to create new garden villages on the edge of the overpopulated suburbs of Brussels. Around Brussels many were planned, but only some 15 projects were built. Three of these are located in Anderlecht an historic city that is now one of the nineteen municipalities that make up the Brussels-Capital Region (and thus comparable to a London Borough).

The Housing Society Anderlechtse Haard (Hearth of Anderlecht) was founded in 1907 after the example of Dutch Housing Cooperatives that were created from 1901 onwards. The Housing Society played an important role in delivering new social housing. In three places this took the shape of a garden village: La Roue / Het Rad, Bon Air / Goede Lucht and Moortebeek.

Anderlechtse Haard funded the first social housing to be built in Anderlecht in 1908 on the Rue des Colombophiles (Duivenmelkersstraat) and Rue des Citoyens (Burgerstraat). After WW1 a garden village was developed on the adjacent land. This Cité de la Roue or Tuinwijk Het Rad was built during the 1920s on a site near the Canal Brussels-Charleroi and the railway to Ghent. The name of the new garden village was derived from the former breaking wheel of Anderlecht that stood here. Such a wheel was a torture device used for capital punishment of the worst criminals and as a means of displaying the body.

Work started in 1921. The placement of the buildings and the layout of the streets and public spaces was designed by the well known urbanist Louis Van der Swaelmen. The new garden village was spatially little more than an extension of the late 19th century neighbourhoods of Anderlecht built for rehousing people displaced by the construction of the Law Courts in the Marolles-district of Brussels and the covering of the Senne. It greatly differs however from the neighbouring areas in layout and type of houses built. The plan comprised of short streets around larger open spaces with short terraces amounting to 688 dwellings in total.

The houses designed by the architects Pompe, Meckmans, , Brunfaut, De Koninck, Jonghers and Voets are based on the so-called Dutch type. Each house had a similar floor plan with a reception room, separate kitchen, three bedrooms, an attic and a small garden. The houses were designed in a limited number of layouts that mostly differed in exterior design and materials used and that were situated along the streets alternatingly to prevent monotony. In total almost 60 different looking houses were built. In 1938 a school, designed by Henri Wildenblanck in a modernist cubist style and a church dedicated to St Joseph, designed by Van Hove in a brick art deco style, were added. The primary school dates from the first building phase.

The garden village of La Roue / Het Rad (literally The Wheel) was built in several stages between 1922 and 1928 and has a layout of streets parallel to a main thoroughfare with some open public spaces that anchor the older roads and new oblique streets into a father formal street plan. These open spaces are the Plaine des Loisirs (1), Place Ministre Wauters (2) and Place de la Roue (3). Two closes have been incorporated: Place du Confort (4) and Place Ernest S'Jonghers (5). No shops were part of the garden village, only community buildings such as primary school (A), secondary school (B) and the church of St Joseph (C); a community hall was originally part of the plans, but was never built. The garden village nestles between pre-existing buildings and notably the old social housing of 1908. 

The older streets have prospective socialist names: Rue de l'Energie / Wilskrachtlaan (Will-power Street), Avenue de la Persévérance / Volhardingslaan (Perseverance Avenue), Rue de la Volonté / Wilstraat (Free Will Street), Rue des Huit Heures / Achturenstraat (Eight Hour Street), Place du Confort / Komfortstraat (Comfort Street), Plaine des Loisirs / Lustplein (Leisure Plain), Rue du Savoir / Kennisstraat (Knowledge Street), Rue de la Mécanique / Werktuigkundestraat (Mechanics Street), Avenue des Droites de l'Homme / Mensenrechtenlaan (Human Rights Avenue), Rue de l'Emancipation / Ontvoogdingsstraat (Emancipation Street), Rue de la Solidarité / Solidariteitsstraat (Solidarity Street), Rue du Symbole / Zinnebeeldstraat (Symbol Street), Rue des Plébéiens / Plebejersstraat (Plebeian Street), avenue de la Société Nationale / Nationale Maatschappijlaan (National Housing Society Avenue) and Rue des Citoyens / Burgersstraat (Citizens Street). Later streets were named after important socialist figures and politicians: Minister Joseph Wauters, Guillaume Melckmans, Jacques Boon, Ernest S'Jonghers, Guillaume Hoorickx and Pierre van Winghen.

The garden village is at present one of the most deprived areas in Anderlecht. Maintenance of the complex is lax at best and in places empty properties have been boarded up. It is a shame to see how Belgium treats its urban heritage. The Cité de la Roue is not even designated as a protected site of historic and social importance. The inhabitants have however successfully prevented the demolition of the Cité and have secured investment to improve the area.

Blossom burst

When ornamental cherries from Japan were first introduced in Europe they became an instant hit. The often double flowers lasted longer, were bigger than those of indigenous cherries and came in a single flush in often vivid colours like pink. Although these trees bloom for only a short period of about three weeks it is something I look forward to every year!

Cités-Jardins, the implementation of new ideas on planning in Brussels

Belgium had a tradition of building housing for workers by enlightened factory owners from the late 18th century, especially in the francophone part of the country. These ideas were subsequently exported to for instance the new mining area in the Flemish Campine region. Building social housing remained however a private enterprise with little to no guidance by the government. The idea(l)s of the Garden City Movement struck a chord with architects and the labour movement, but politicians remained wary of any state intervention into the housing market. This changed after WW1 when socialism became an important political force and the devastations of war created opportunities to improve the urban landscape and the living conditions of the working classes.

From 1918 the Belgian government declared housing a priority and implemented a plan to rebuilt the great number of destroyed buildings by introducing planning and state-funded social housing. Brussels was already developing rapidly before the Great War, but many more people were drawn there afterwards due to the devastations endured by the countryside. Garden villages and planning both stemmed from the ideas of the Garden City Movement and provided an economic choice as repetition, standardisation and a limited number of materials could provide for a rapid roll-out of new housing. In Belgium these Cités-Jardins or Tuinwijken are often little more than neighbourhoods or small garden villages, new garden city satellites were never planned.

For their construction and management special housing associations were founded. Many of these have their roots in the labour movement with a strong focus on communal facilities. Housing took the shape of terraced family houses with large gardens, apartments and lodging houses. Allotment gardens are never part of the Cité-Jardin in Belgium. Seen as urban living in the countryside these housing projects also provided a good living environment for the influx from rural communities not adapted to living in the city.

Around Brussels only 16 garden villages were developed, mostly between 1918 and 1930. The first was Cité sociale de Jouët-Rey in Etterbeek completed in 1909. Development stalled until during the boom years many garden villages were completed: Cité de la Roue (1908,1923 & 1928), Cité de Moortebeek (1922), Cité-Van-Lindt (1922), Cité Floréal (1922), Cité Le Logis (1923), Cité Forest-Vert (1923), La Cité Diongre (1923), Cité Bon Air (1923), Cité de Tuinbouw (1924), La Cité Moderne (1925),  Cité Verregat (1926), Cité Kapelleveld (1926), Cité Terdelt (1926) and la Cité du Homborch (1930). The economic crises of the 1930s prevented the construction of many planned garden villages. Of these only the Cité à Bon Marché d'Auderghem was built between 1949 and 1952. The focus in planned house building shifted towards the ideas of CIAM. The Cité Modèle designed by the famous architect Renaat Braam as a model of future social housing is an early example from 1958.

All the garden villages and neighbourhoods were developed on the rural outskirts of the city and still encircle the old city (in red). They are no longer suburban exclaves, but rather rural enclaves within the  expanded city. The Cités-Jardins of Brussels are: Cité sociale de Jouët-Rey (>),  Cité-Van-Lindt (1), Cité à Bon Marché d'Auderghem (2),Cité Le Logis (3), Cité Floréal (4), Cité du Homborch (5), Cité Forest-Vert (6), Cité de la Roue (7), Cité Bon Air (8), Cité de Moortebeek (9), La Cité Diongre (10), La Cité Moderne (11),  Cité Verregat (12), Cité Terdelt (13), Cité de Tuinbouw (14), Cité Kapelleveld (15) and la Cité Modèle (_*).

Magnificent Magnolia

Named after the French botanist Pierre Magnol, the large genus of Magnolia has a disjunct distribution in both Asia and America. Known for the often large and showy flowers in white, yellow, pink and purple, many species and hybrids are in cultivation. The flowers are primitive with only tepals and predate pollinating insects such as bees and hoverflies and are mainly pollinated by beetles and small animals. Magnolias are amongst the oldest flowering plants and are known from fossil records.

Magnolia kobus from Japan (left), the slower growing Magnolia stellata, and Magnolia x soulangeana a hybrid between two Chinese species (M. denudata and M. liliiflora) with pink and cream flowers.

Utrecht: separating secular and religious entities

In Roman times Traiectum and its vicus wasn't an important settlement. This changed when the Franks erected a wooden church within the confines of the derelict roman fort around 650 AD. This first church was destroyed by a band of Frisians and subsequently rebuilt. Later -around 700 AD- a second church called Oudmunster (literally Old Minster) was build against the southern wall of the former Roman fort. In 732 the whole of this walled area is bestowed on Willibrord, a Northumbrian missionary saint, as the first bishop. Later large areas of land of the christianized Frisians in the Northern Netherlands were bestowed on the bishop of Utrecht, thus creating het Nedersticht and Oversticht -the two parts of what became the Prince-bishopric of Utrecht from 1024 AD. The two main churches -the church of St Martin (Maartenskerk) and the church of St Salvador (Salvatorkerk) plus a collegiate house and the bishops palace were located within the partially rebuilt Roman walls. On the westside a secular settlement developed called the Stathe (literally staith), located were once the vicus stood.

With the land grew the bishops wealth and with his elevation too archbishop so did his status. The central location was quickly exploited by the bishop and attracted many people. This in turn lead to the building of more churches. The first was the Buurkerk (built 925 AD) dedicated to the Virgin and located north of the Stathe. The churches of St John (Janskerk), St Peter (Pieterskerk), St Pauls church and abbey (Paulusabdij) and church of St Mary followed in 1030, 1039, 1054 and 1085 respectively, creating a cross with the cathedral church or Domkerk at its heart. These Churches were later followed by the churches of St Nicolas (Niklaaskerk - 1155), St Jacob (Jakobskerk - 1173) and St Gerard (Geertekerk - 1231).

The cross of churched reputedly built to commemorate Conrad II can be clearly seen at the centre of Utrecht. Later other churches were added. Two churches in this cross of churches (or Kerkenkruis) are no longer standing.

In order to expand the city that grew around the central religious core the natural landscape of the floodplain had to be extensively altered. These alterations were executed from west to east and included the damming of rivers, the cutting of drainage channels, dredging rivers and digging canals. Each time a new area came available parts of it were quickly filled in. In some parts however urban development had to incorporate older monastic compounds. When the settlement received its city rights  the large Monastery of St Catherine of the Knights Hospitaller of St John (Johanitter Orde) had already been built outside of the Stathe. The new city defences were constructed first on this side to incorporate (most of) the monastic compound. In the 16th century the monks were moved to the site of the Carmelite convent to make way for a large castle. These Carmelite nuns were moved to a new site on the other side of the Nieuwe Gracht (the new canal -1262).

These compounds belonging to monasteries and convents were always encircled by a wall, as within them only church law applied. This system of monastic freedoms (kloostervrijheden or vrijthoven) was widespread throughout the Low Countries, Germany, France and Denmark. The often large compounds greatly influenced the way in which the city developed as secular and religious entities were separated.

The monastic compounds within the city once took up about a third of the space within the city walls. These included the compound of the bishop (1) and the Collegiate Church (1A), Sint Pieter Vrijheid (2) and Paulusabdij (3).The compound of the Buurkerk (4) was small compared to that of the Janskerk (5), which had room to split off a part to accommodate the Friars Minor (6). A similar situation occurred at the Nikolaaskerk (7) where a monastery (7A) was added in 1337, followed by the convent of St Agnes (8 - Agnietenklooster) in 1420 and the new Carmelite convent (9) in 1529 and at the St Servatius Abbey (10) founded in 1222 where later parts were developed to house the Mary Magdalene convent (11) of 1351, Jerusalem House (12) of 1394 and Willibrord House (13) of 1510. The older compounds are located near the old Catherijneconvent (14) of the Knights Hospitaller: 15 - St Clare's convent and St Elisabeth Hospital (1500) on an older part of the former, 16 - Mariakerkvrijthof, 17 - Duitse Huis of the Teutonic Knights (1231) and 18 - the Geertkerkhof with the Bartholomew Hospital (18A) from 1377. Later monastic compounds are located near the cathedral: 19 - Ursula convent (1412), 20 - Regulierenklooster (1267), 21 - the first Karmelietenklooster (1468), Bridget, Monastery Jeruzalem cellenbroeders 25 Geronimo 24, Further afield we find 26 - Convent of Bethlehem (1425), 27 - Wittevrouwenklooster (1240), 28 - Begijnhof (1251), 29 - Dominican (Preachers) Monastery or Predikherenklooster (1232), 30 - Cecilia convent (1396), 31 - Jakobskerk and 32 - Vreedendaal Monastery 1399. Within the city, on parts of older private houses we find almshouses often consisting of single-room dwellings (cameren): 33 - Croontjenspoorthof (1397), 34 -Janskameren (15th C), 35 - Sionskameren (15th C), 36 - Myropscameren (1583), 37 - Kameren van Goch (1560), 38 - Kameren van Campen (1574), 39 - Margaretenhof (1562), 40 - Gronsveltkameren (1652), 41 -Beyerskameren (1597), 42 - Bruntskameren (1621), 43 - Zuylenskameren (16th C), 44 - Kameren Maria van Pallaes (1651) and 45 - Breyerskameren (1749).  

This all changed after the Iconoclastic Wave (Beeldenstorm) of 1566 when Catholicism was made illegal and all "papist property" was seized by the state. The monastic building were reused as schools, orphanages, whorehouses, warehouses, abattoir, stables, military barracks and such. Most however were dismantled creating space for large scale infill and improvements like for instance road widening and new quays. Only the hospitals and almshouses were spared often under the care of "freed nuns". The former enclosed monastic compounds are still recognisable by the street names and reused buildings and building fragments -like for instance gates and cloisters- that were incorporated in later secular buildings.