Architecture Walk — Den Brandt

Fantastic homes in “Den Brandt” will be featured during our architecture walk!

Location: Starting point of the walk: Beukenlaan 12, 2020 Antwerp (main entrance Park Den Brandt)
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On Sunday, June 22, we are hosting another architecture walk in "Den Brandt." This neighborhood covers an area of about 48 hectares and was sold in 1910 by the noble della Faille de Waerloos family to the City of Antwerp. In return, the della Faille family obtained the subdivision permit and founded the "Extensions et Entreprises Anversoises" to collaborate with numerous renowned architects to develop the villa park ‘Den Brandt.’

Guided by Alex Elaut, we will begin the walk and encounter homes designed by architects such as Florent Vaes, Jos Ritzen, Jan Vanhoenacker, Cols & De Roeck, and De Coninck & Potie!

The neighborhood, designed by city engineer Richard Lemeunier, was laid out in a crescent shape around the wooded Park Den Brandt, which the City of Antwerp purchased and developed as a public park in 1910. The building regulations for the neighborhood were detailed in the “Della Faille Convention.” This agreement specified, among other things, the size of the plots, the positioning of the villas, the mandatory use of ‘natural’ building materials, and the prohibition of non-residential functions such as commerce and hospitality. To preserve the character of a ‘parc habité’ (inhabited park), existing trees were also to be preserved as much as possible.
The flourishing period of the neighborhood’s development coincides with the early interwar years, from 1920 to 1925, during which architects Léopold De Coninck and Maurice Potié left their mark on the streetscape. Their signature style was an interpretation of the cottage-villa in the ‘Old English’ style. Of the villas that De Coninck and Potié built in the neighborhood, around 40 still remain preserved.

In the same period, architect Jos Ritzen brought the most contemporary architecture to the neighborhood. The paired villas Peeters and Kennis, with their geometric volumes and horizontal accents, reflect the early modernism characteristic of Ritzen’s work.

Jan Vanhoenacker, designer of the Boerentoren, is also represented in the neighborhood with the Landuydt villa from 1928, built for a brick manufacturer from Terhagen. The expressive brickwork of this Art Deco villa served as a business card for Landuydt’s company, which also supplied the paving bricks for the streets.

The Sauter villa, designed in 1935 by Jef Huygh—architect of Sint-Lievenscollege and Sint-Laurentiuskerk—was traditionally conceived as a total work of art, including the interior and garden.