This article was downloaded by: [UQ Library] On: 29 August 2013, At: 02:57 Publisher: Routledge Informa Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK

The Journal of Architecture Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rjar20 Designing the Belgian welfare state 1950s to 1970s: social reform, leisure and ideological adherence Janina Gosseye a & Hilde Heynen a a Department of Architecture, Urbanism and Planning, K.U.Leuven, Belgium Published online: 11 Oct 2010.

To cite this article: Janina Gosseye & Hilde Heynen (2010) Designing the Belgian welfare state 1950s to 1970s: social reform, leisure and ideological adherence, The Journal of Architecture, 15:5, 557-585, DOI: 10.1080/13602365.2010.519950 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13602365.2010.519950

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The Journal of Architecture Volume 15 Number 5 Documenting the modern public past (five essays)

———————————————— Designing the Belgian welfare state 1950s to 1970s: social reform, leisure and ideological adherence

Janina Gosseye, Hilde Heynen Department of Architecture, Urbanism and Planning, K.U.Leuven, Belgium

Introduction: Belgium, a pillarised state the redistribution of wealth, knowledge and political The Belgian welfare state came about, like most power. Hence all Western Europe saw the rise of others in Western Europe, as a political project at heavily subsidised housing estates and social infra- the end of the Second World War. The Social Pact structure, such as health facilities, cultural or com- that in April, 1944, was signed between representa- munity centres and sports facilities. The way in tives of the labour movement, leaders of the which these amenities were planned, financed and employers’ organisations and a few high-ranking managed varied considerably among the different civil servants, provided the basis for what later on nation-states. In some countries, such as the Nether- became a well-elaborated system of social insur- lands or Sweden, planning was very much centra- ance, covering health care, unemployment, old lised and the distribution of amenities was age pensions, child benefit and the annual carefully administered by national institutions. In vacation.1 In Belgium as elsewhere the political other countries, such as Belgium, a more decentra- basis for the grandiose new ‘social contract’ came lised policy prevailed that, thanks to subsidies from Downloaded by [UQ Library] at 02:57 29 August 2013 forth from the profound uncertainties that people the state, enabled local authorities to plan and had been exposed to during the war. Because realise these new facilities. quality-of-life prospects had become blatantly unre- Historical, sociological and philosophical studies liable, it was generally felt that social justice on an of the welfare state abound. Studies that focus on impartial basis should be guaranteed by the State.2 how the welfare state was translated into built In contrast with American corporate capitalism reality are scarcer. The domain of housing is by and Soviet communism, the welfare state project now reasonably well covered.3 Less attention, was an attempt to devise a specific European however, has been paid to the other built infrastruc- answer to Cold War politics and to emerging post- ture to which the welfare state gave rise: the cultural colonial realities. centres, sports fields, hospitals, schools, universities, In most European countries this resulted in strong retirement homes and other social amenities that legislation which offered social security to the were built as part of the effort to provide equal majority of the population, administered by a new access for all to provision that previously catered bureaucracy. This was paralleled by the establish- only to the happy few. These massive construction ment of planning institutions meant to facilitate programmes have so far not been systematically

# 2010 The Journal of Architecture 1360-2365 DOI: 10.1080/13602365.2010.519950 558

Designing the Belgian welfare state 1950s to 1970s: social reform, leisure and ideological adherence Janina Gosseye, Hilde Heynen

studied with respect to welfare state policies, survive in an era (from the 1960s onwards) cultural movements (such as modernism in marked by a general tendency towards pluralism architecture) or social tendencies. This article dis- and de-pillarisation.9 Researching the country’s closes this vast field by unravelling the development leisure infrastructure, we also recognise the impact of leisure infrastructure in the Belgian welfare state. of pillarisation in the early post-war period, and its For reasons that will become clear further in the lingering effects long afterwards. article, we focus mainly on Flanders; the northern, In Belgium this pillarisation also became visible in Flemish-speaking region of the country. architectural and urban forms. Immediately after the In Belgium, the emergence of the welfare state Second World War, two housing acts were was bound up with political evolutions based on a approved: a Catholic one stimulating private initiat- logic of pillarisation.4 Belgium was one of those ive (Act De Taeye, 1948) and a socialist one promot- European states that were strongly characterised ing public housing (Act Brunfaut, 1949). The Act De by this peculiar arrangement of political ideologies Taeye encouraged small-scale private initiatives by and social structures.5 The term ‘pillarisation’ offering subsidies to private builders, and by refers to a situation in which different ideological setting up a mortgage system that allowed builders sections of society—in Belgium, Catholics, Socialists to borrow up to 90% of their property’s value. It was and Liberals (the last smaller and less important)— beneficial to individual home builders, but also to organise themselves as ‘pillars’: tightly knit wholes specific Catholic organisations that started to build of affiliated and interconnected organisations that large estates of single-family homes that could be

Downloaded by [UQ Library] at 02:57 29 August 2013 ‘serve’ their members with respect to housing, sold cheaply thanks to the De Taeye subsidies. The health care, employment issues and other areas of Act Brunfaut on the other hand was most relied life.6 The interconnection between welfare state upon by socialist-inspired housing corporations policies and ideological pillars was in many Euro- which used it to fund the collective infrastructure pean countries quite complex. In the Netherlands, needed for large social housing estates with blocks for instance, the housing policy that was initiated of flats rather than one-family houses (Fig. 1).10 from 1901 was implemented through the ideologi- When it came to leisure infrastructure, the entan- cal pillars and the first housing corporations were glement between pillars and welfare state initially established by ideologically committed organis- was also quite important. Before the state began ations that received state subsidies.7 Likewise, to subsidise these types of buildings, pillars already social security in Belgium after 1945 was distributed had some experience in providing for leisure and through unions and mutualiteiten (health insurance sports. The very first holiday colonies for children organisations) that bore clear ideological connota- in Belgium, for instance, were established by tions.8 These close affiliations between welfare political parties or by unions, and not by the state. state policy and pillarised institutions, it has been Starting as early as the late nineteenth century— argued, in fact have helped these institutions to when child labour had just been abolished11 and 559

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school funding caused a bitter controversy between ations (since they did not have to cultivate a liberals and Catholics—various liberal philanthropic garden or to bother about maintenance issues). In foundations began organising summer camps for the 1950s and early 1960s these ideological differ- children. Holiday domains were predominantly ences were still very dominant when it came to located near the sea or in the Ardennes (a hilly building leisure infrastructure. The Catholic pillar region in the South). They were above all intended for a long time strove to have its own sports infra- to emphasise the proximity of natural settings— structure and its own sports organisations. The dunes, woods, beach and sea12—and, following concern was that intermingling of the different the mantra of the hygienist movement,13 aimed at pillars in sports would contaminate the religious improving children’s health and preventing the awareness and the family orientation of further dissemination of tuberculosis.14 They also members.16 Gradually, however, these pillars lost offered parents the possibility to give their children grip on society in an apparent process of ‘de- a vacation at an affordable price while they could pillarisation’. This evolution has been heavily continue their work. The political agenda of this discussed in the socio-historical literature on the undertaking should not be overlooked. These period.17 Less studied, however, is how this summer camps were an instrument that the liberal process acted out in the built environment. faction employed to lure children to their liberal In this paper we discuss several examples of schools by offering healthy vacations by the sea.15 leisure infrastructure that are more or less typical In this sense they are a perfect example of how for the gradual evolution from pillar-focused and

Downloaded by [UQ Library] at 02:57 29 August 2013 pillar organisations served their clients by providing pillar-financed buildings towards state-sponsored, services ‘from cradle to grave’. ‘pluralist’ infrastructure that nevertheless still Whereas nineteenth-century Belgium was domi- catered to pillarised organisations. We question nated by tensions between Catholics and Liberals, whether the leisure infrastructure that was brought twentieth-century Belgium witnessed the growing about by the formation of the welfare state played importance of the Socialist pillar, which gradually a significant roˆ le in the gradual decline of pillarisation took over from the Liberals as the main competitor as an important fact of daily life. Because we are to the Catholic pillar. Significant ideological differ- architectural historians, our selected case-study ences between the Catholics and the Socialists buildings are also interesting from an architectural when applied to the built environment mainly had point of view. They embody ambitions and claims to do with the focus on families (Catholics) or on that go beyond the merely utilitarian and thus individuals (Socialists). This is why single-family contribute to the spatial quality and uniqueness of houses owned by their inhabitants were definitely their sites. Some of these buildings are still standing; preferred by Catholics, whereas Socialists opted most of them, however, over the course of time for rented flats that gave their occupants more were deemed redundant and have fallen prey to freedom to engage in social or political organis- demolition. 560

Designing the Belgian welfare state 1950s to 1970s: social reform, leisure and ideological adherence Janina Gosseye, Hilde Heynen

Figure 1. Two drawings made by the architect Renaat Braem in 1953: the first image depicts socialist housing as seen by catholics; the second depicts catholic housing as seen by socialists. Downloaded by [UQ Library] at 02:57 29 August 2013

Emerging social reform: the establishment of offer (poor) urban dwellers a ‘healthy’ break away pillarised holiday centres and the rise of from their strenuous city lives. In the interwar Belgian (social) tourism period, and shortly after the Second World War, Twentieth-century Belgium experienced a slow but practically all initiatives that were taken in this steady proliferation of social legislation, designed respect emphasised the importance of physical to mitigate social antagonisms. Policies not only tar- rejuvenation, which soon broadened to include geted education, social security and health care but ‘mental relaxation’. It was only later, starting from also democratised the right to leisure and gave rise the 1960s, that a new terminology entered the to a copious leisure infrastructure, designed to debate, stressing the capacity of this social 561

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Figure 1. Continued. Downloaded by [UQ Library] at 02:57 29 August 2013

infrastructure to generate (pluralistic) ‘encoun- The early efforts were predominantly directed ters’.18 Before the Second World War, pluralism towards the construction of holiday camps for chil- was not part of the discourse, because the first dren.19 During the interwar period and after the efforts towards mass leisure infrastructure were Second World War, the popularity of these holiday initiated by pillarised organisations and institutions, camps increased when pillarised health services, such as health insurance associations. The latter unions and labour groups began opening vacation had no interest in generating ‘pluralistic encoun- domains.20 Though many of these camps were ters’, but would rather set up services that installed in existing villas, hotels, hospitals, schools, underlined the ideological principles that their etc., various new colonies were also erected, in a organisations represented. wide variety of architectural styles: eclectic, 562

Designing the Belgian welfare state 1950s to 1970s: social reform, leisure and ideological adherence Janina Gosseye, Hilde Heynen

Figure 2. Photograph showing the north fac¸ade of Home Emile Vandervelde I (left) and Home Pays de Charleroi (right): # AMSAB, Ghent. Downloaded by [UQ Library] at 02:57 29 August 2013 revivalist, Neue Sachlichkeit, modernist.21 Socialist of three homes: Home Emile Vandervelde I, Home organisations generally tended to favour modern Pays de Charleroi (Fig. 2) and Home Emile Vandervelde architecture, while their Catholic counterparts II. These homes offered affordable vacations for mostly opted for historicising styles. This was not a workers’ children and were all constructed according coincidence, since modern architecture celebrated to the principles of the modernist architectural idiom. principles such as sobriety, rationality and function- They were designed to create an ideal environment ality, which were in line with the equality, openness for the child, wherein particular emphasis was placed and social justice aimed for by socialist organis- on personal choice and a sense of collectivity. Access ations.22 For Catholics, on the other hand, more to these vacation domains was reserved for children historicising styles were seen as corroborating the between the ages of six and fourteen years and reverence of tradition that they deemed essential. limited to a time-period of two weeks, called a contin- A particularly fascinating example of a children’s gent.23 Children were able to vacation in one of these holiday camp can be found in Oostduinkerke, where three holiday homes if their parents were members of the Socialist Health Services between 1933 and 1957 a socialist organisation, such as Socialistische Vooruit- developed a large vacation colony, which consisted ziende Vrouwen or the Socialist Health Services. 563

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Figure 3. Home Emile Vandervelde II: # AMSAB, Ghent. Downloaded by [UQ Library] at 02:57 29 August 2013

Home Emile Vandervelde I and Pays de Charleroi Engels’ immediate inspiration for this particular were constructed in the interwar period, whereas geometry can be found in nineteenth-century Home Emile Vandervelde II—probably the most prison plans that offered an optimal overview and striking complex of the three—was constructed in created a high degree of control over circulation.24 1954, almost twenty years later, by the Socialist Positioned to create a central square, these pavilions Health insurance association of Brabant. Designed generated a half-open, half-closed entity that by the architect Lucien Engels, it was tailored to offered diverse views of the surroundings and house 700 children and 200 adults. Contrary to integrated perfectly into the undulating dune other socialist holiday camps, Home Emile Vander- landscape.25 The most southerly pavilion, which velde II was not built up of a collection of rectangu- had ‘chubbier’ limbs than the other two, housed lar, beam-shaped buildings, but housed all its auxiliary functions all integrated into one limb and functions in three triple-limbed star-shaped a large refectory, divided over the two remaining pavilions that resembled three giant stranded star- limbs (Fig. 4). The two other pavilions, which fish (Fig. 3). housed the sleeping quarters, differed from the 564

Designing the Belgian welfare state 1950s to 1970s: social reform, leisure and ideological adherence Janina Gosseye, Hilde Heynen

Figure 4. In the main main building not only in shape (their legs were more pavilion, concave slender), but also in position: both were, with respect elements such as the to the main building, rotated 60 degrees to benefit glazed fac¸ade and the flight of stairs bordering optimally from the sun. it playfully contrasted This vacation domain explicitly addressed, besides with convex elements, the children’s physical condition, their mental well- such as the awning at being and was considered more than a place where the entrance of the they could come to ‘rejuvenate’, but also a place building: # private collection of R. Henin where their personalities would develop, a place and M.-T. Cleynhens. that would appeal to their sense of collectivity and a place where they would discover the foundations of the socialist movement. These aspirations were clearly expressed in the Zakboekje voor de Moniteur (pocket guide for the counsellor) which was pub- lished by the Socialistische Vooruitziende Vrouwen to prepare the children’s counsellors for their task: They [the children] are healthy children who are offered a vacation-cure that allows them to revita- The vacation camp should signify an ideal world lize after a demanding year in school. The goal is in the mind of the child, which everyone actively 26

Downloaded by [UQ Library] at 02:57 29 August 2013 to make them familiar with certain habits that will contributes to. benefit their health. Lucien Engels eloquently translated these desires into The educational aspect [of this vacation] is of the design of the vacation domain, as was pointed equal importance. ... out in the May, 1958, issue of the Journal La The functioning [of this vacation camp] can Maison, which described Home Emile Vandervelde have an influence on their character, on the devel- II as follows: ‘It is no longer a complex where the opment of their personality and on their commu- variety and the fantasy that are so dear to childhood nity spirit. are sacrificed to serve a superior order that We therefore ask to treat each child as a implements an aggressive type of discipline, but a pensive being and not as a number. centre that is happy and colourful and without It is desirable that the children ...realize that doubt very hygienic, but more importantly in line this children’s camp is the work of the Socialis- with the psychology [of the child].’27 The whole tische Vooruitziende Vrouwen and of ...the vacation camp was drenched in colour: for instance, Socialist movement [in general]. They should be in the fac¸ades, brightly coloured panels alternated made conscious of this fact not by words, but with the windows and created a rhythmical through concrete actions. ... sequence. While the creation of a sense of collectivity 565

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was worked into a number of details such as large, centres providing affordable family holidays was at circular sinks that several children could use simul- first very limited. Social organisations tried to taneously, the wish to create an atmosphere of open- bridge this gap by building new holiday infrastruc- ness, freedom and joy can be identified in two ture. Although comparable evolutions played out artworks that were integrated into the vacation in other European countries, the Belgian situation domain. Seeking to ‘tune into a fascination that is rather specific due to the roˆ le of the pillarised was much talked-of in contemporary artistic cir- organisations and their preferences for specific cles...: the child’s power of imagination’,28 Rik Poot formal languages. 31 designed a sculpture depicting seagulls and children An interesting example of such a new ‘type’ of at play, which was placed at the entrance of the vacation domain can be found in Houthalen-Helch- domain. Also the 35-metre long mural on the wall teren, a small village in the province of Limburg, of the mezzanine floor above the dining room, where the Christian Health Services constructed a designed by Jan Cox, tapped into a similar source holiday park, named Hengelhoef in 1964.32 Con- of inspiration and illustrated the journey from the trary to the ‘socialist’ children’s colonies in Oostduin- oppressive confines of the city to the joyous openness kerke, which were composed of a few large building of the sea (Fig. 5). slabs, Hengelhoef was conceived as a ‘holiday Home Emile Vandervelde II —like many other chil- village’ which offered family vacations. It consisted dren’s holiday homes—experienced its heyday during of numerous small, individual residential pavilions, the late 1960s and the early 1970s. Aspiring ‘to make each of which was able to house from one up to 29

Downloaded by [UQ Library] at 02:57 29 August 2013 the spirit of the child tangible’, this holiday domain four families. These pavilions delineated both the gave ‘a poetic reflection of the optimistic aspirations edge of the forest and the open green public of the young social-democratic welfare state.’30 space, which boasted several recreational grounds Initiated by socialist organisations and designed by (figs 6, 7). As well, one large, two-storey building modernists, it is one of the most expressive examples (the main building) was designed on the opposite of pillarised social infrastructures. side of the arterial ‘street’; it housed a wide array Whereas the period between the 1930s and the of functions, such as administrative offices, numer- 1960s were the heyday of children’s holiday ous collective spaces and several rooms that could camps, new vacation possibilities later arose, not each accommodate two to three guests. only for children, but for the whole family. From Hengelhoef was promoted as a holiday domain 1936 onwards (when an annual paid vacation for family vacations, which allowed workers to flee became a social right) a rapid evolution emerged the industrial centres where they spent most of in the field of what later came to be called ‘social their days and enjoy a healthy retreat in ‘pure’ tourism’. Even though the new law strived for nature together with their wives and children. democratisation, providing ‘equal’ access to After all, the Christian-democratic pillar considered vacations for all, the number of Belgian holiday the family the ‘core-unit’, a ‘standard dimension’ 566

Designing the Belgian welfare state 1950s to 1970s: social reform, leisure and ideological adherence Janina Gosseye, Hilde Heynen

Figure 5. Children performing in the dining room of Home Emile Vandervelde II (1969) on the last day of their stay. Visible in the upper right corner is the 35-metre long mural by Jan Cox: # private collection of R. Henin and M.-T. Cleynhens. Downloaded by [UQ Library] at 02:57 29 August 2013

which was to be incorporated in all aspects of life, two standard layouts—a rectangular plan (type A) including vacation. This conviction can be read in and a square plan (type B)—they offered relative the spatial configuration of Hengelhoef and flexibility within their limited dimensions (Fig. 8). detected in its daily practices. A striking feature is For instance, the type B plan could easily be trans- found in the numerous small cottages that com- formed from one entity of 64m2 into two, three or posed this holiday centre. These modest bungalows four smaller units with a surface ranging between were modelled for one to four families. Based on 16 and 48m2. The planned flexibility of these bunga- 567

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Figure 6. General plan of Hengelhoef (retraced from the original plan of 1962 by L. Van de Vondel).

lows thus met one of the primary requirements of of the main building. 35 Also, ablutions took place in organising family holidays, they could ensure that the main building, since the sanitary equipment in

Downloaded by [UQ Library] at 02:57 29 August 2013 the family: ‘regardless of its size or the age of the the pavilions was limited to a lavatory and a sink. children, has a room at its disposition where they This should come as no surprise since most vaca- can be together and feel united. During the vacation tioners in Hengelhoef at this point probably did period, the family was to be able to appropriate this not possess a private bathroom at home. It was space in such a manner that it became a transplant only in the 1960s that a bathroom equipped with of their own home in the holiday institution’.33 a shower or a bath became an integral part of the None of the bungalow units were equipped with house, and even then it remained an element of a kitchen. This was a conscious decision, designed to social stratification, reserved for upper-class families, allow the mothers to enjoy a carefree holiday just which was certainly not the target group of Hengel- like other family members. In line with the wish of hoef.36 Furthermore, what was striking about the the Christian-democratic workers union (A.C.W.34) design of these pavilions were the majestic dimen- which wanted ‘to ensure that family-events arise sions given to the porches in front of each unit. in which mothers, free of care for their family, can When the double doors were opened completely, enjoy a couple of peaceful days during which they they practically became a part of the living space, can relive their honeymoon weeks’, Hengelhoef drawing nature into the stifling confines of the bun- served breakfast, lunch and dinner in the restaurant galow unit. The entire rationale of these pavilions 568

Designing the Belgian welfare state 1950s to 1970s: social reform, leisure and ideological adherence Janina Gosseye, Hilde Heynen

Figure 7. A view of Hengelhoef’s residential pavilions. These pavilions encircle a large open green area where different recreational facilities are located and delineate the forest edge (photograph taken on July 27th, 1964): # KADOC, Leuven.

was designed to lure people outside, where they ment) was easily adapted to a wide array of activi-

Downloaded by [UQ Library] at 02:57 29 August 2013 could enjoy the serenity of nature or actively partici- ties, from playing cards to setting up quiz-shows. pate in one of the organised outdoor activities Every Sunday morning, this space was transformed (Fig. 9). into a chapel where Mass was held to ensure that The plan of this vacation domain in fact reflected vacationers who stayed in Hengelhoef for more the (paternalistic) ideals that social tourism thrived than one week would not be deprived. Although on; it not only provided a holiday at an affordable being a member of the Christian health services rate, but was furthermore specifically designed to was not required to holiday in Hengelhoef, it cer- encourage vacationers to spend their holidays in a tainly was a reality in the early years. A survey sociable and active manner instead of surrendering which was held in 1964, the year of the domain’s themselves to passive forms of amusement of ques- opening, indicated that the Christian character of tionable moral quality, such as watching commercial this institution was in fact one of the major films or listening to the wireless. Although outdoor reasons why people selected it. In response to the activities were encouraged, various indoor activities question: ‘Why did you chose Hengelhoef as your were also organised in the main building to enter- vacation destination?’, more than half of the tain families in the evenings and on rainy days. respondents pointed to the formula of ‘family The polyvalent recreation room (located in the base- vacation’ as the main reason, while almost one 569

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Figure 8. Spatial layout of the two different pavilion types that could be found in Hengelhoef; type A (the rectangular plan) above and type B (the square plan) below (1962 plans by the architect L. Van de Vondel). Downloaded by [UQ Library] at 02:57 29 August 2013 570

Designing the Belgian welfare state 1950s to 1970s: social reform, leisure and ideological adherence Janina Gosseye, Hilde Heynen

Figure 9. Two families sitting in front of their (type A) bungalow unit in Hengelhoef: # KADOC, Leuven. Downloaded by [UQ Library] at 02:57 29 August 2013

third stated that they attached great importance to reflected the ideals and beliefs to which these the Christian character of Hengelhoef, which found pillars adhered. Socialist holiday domains were its origin in the ideals of the Christian social move- often composed, just like many socialist housing pro- ment.37 jects in this period, of a few large building blocks The construction of holiday institutions for ‘the with centralised communal functions, consciously masses’ in Belgium following the development of appealing to their public’s sense of collectiveness. social legislation in the first half of the twentieth Catholic holiday domains on the other hand primar- century was thus a sphere predominantly occupied ily emphasised the family as the standard entity and by pillarised organisations. Numerous vacation consequently offered smaller lodgings. Whereas domains were in fact erected by foundations associ- Socialist constructions often employed a modernist ated with either the social-democratic pillar or the architectural idiom, Catholic realisations were more Christian-democratic pillar and consequently diverse and less outspoken in their architectural 571

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languages. Even though they often lacked the archi- in fact the government that took it upon itself to tectural ambition of their socialist counterparts start building leisure infrastructure for the masses. (which aspired to be ‘palaces for the people’) they This government concern was consistent with an nevertheless tried to implement spatial principles increasingly dominant discourse that stressed the that were compatible with the focus on the family need to ‘democratise’ culture and make it accessible rather than the individual, and that fitted into an to everyone, regardless of social status, age or pillar- hierarchical social cohesion that ultimately focused affiliation. In line with the call for pluralisation and on religious symbols and attitudes. democratisation, the Belgian national ministry of Edu- cation and Culture in the early 1960s organised a survey of the leisure patterns of the Flemish-speaking Cultural pluralism as the basis for the population to identify the changing needs of this de-pillarisation of Belgian society? awakening leisure society. The outcome of this The tensions between the different socio-political survey pointed at the importance of accessibility to pillars, which had for a long time dominated socio-cultural infrastructure, stating that ‘the pres- Belgian political history, started to abate from the ence of museums, operas, swimming pools, etc., late 1950s onwards, through the implementation can have a determining impact on the choice of of two political pacts: the School Pact and the leisure consumption, which is of great importance Culture Pact. The School Pact was agreed in 1958 for popular education’.40 The government conse- and ended the so-called School War between the quently decided that a new set of typologies was to

Downloaded by [UQ Library] at 02:57 29 August 2013 ‘free’ (predominantly Catholic) education system be constructed to counter the perceived immoral and the state (anti-clerical) education system, by influence of popular media entertainment, which agreeing that both would obtain equal monetary stimulated passive rather than active leisure con- governmental support, provided that the free edu- sumption. cation system would follow the same set of regu- It was generally felt among intellectuals and poli- lations as state education.38 The Culture Pact was ticians that workers and their families should be agreed in 1974 and was designed to protect ideo- encouraged to enjoy healthy leisure activities, such logical and philosophical minorities in the cultural as sports or cultural events. Those with a socialist sphere.39 When in this same period the five-day background embraced this notion because they working week was also approved, granting Belgians were convinced that active leisure would promote the right to enjoy an annual holiday and the possi- collective and political awareness among their bility to engage in various leisure activities over the members, whereas passive consumption would weekend, a trend to de-pillarisation was set in make them inert and politically ineffective. For motion. Although one could have expected that Catholic intellectuals on the other hand the seduc- this timeslot would be fated to become another tive qualities of commercial entertainment regis- sphere of influence for pillarised institutions, it was tered rather high on the scale of sinfulness, and 572

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they were concerned that it would lead Catholics leisure culture divided along language/territorial astray from the righteous path of faith. These two lines did not happen overnight. A complicated rather divergent motivations, based on political matter was, for instance, the reconciliation of Catho- agendas of both (left and right) sides of the ideologi- lics and socialists in the realm of sports. Though the cal spectrum thus coincided and reinforced the call Christian democratic pillar acknowledged the key for democratisation of leisure infrastructure allow- roˆ le that sports could play in the personal edification ing for healthy sports activities and ‘authentic’ cul- of devotees, it simultaneously dreaded the negative tural experiences. During the 1960s and 1970s the effects that it could have on family spirit, morals Belgian government consequently subsidised and and Christian faith, referring to ‘malpractices’ that built an impressive number of new leisure centres, occurred in this domain, such as spending hours in such as cultural centres, sports centres and rec- the pub after a soccer game.44 Nevertheless, reational domains, throughout the country. despite its qualms, the Christian pillar early on De-pillarisation and promotion of healthy leisure, proved to be in favour of working together with however, were not the only decisive factors in the socialists to increase the number of sports facilities rapid expansion of state-subsidised social infrastruc- in the country.45 The cost of this infrastructure was ture. It has been stated that the tendency towards indeed such that it would not have been very sensible de-pillarisation was in Belgium also accommodated to provide for it twice or three times in the same by a re-alignment of society along linguistic (and municipality. Contrary to many of the pillarised territorial) lines.41 The growing disparities between holiday domains, these new sports centres were

Downloaded by [UQ Library] at 02:57 29 August 2013 the French and the Flemish language communities therefore denoted as municipal or public swimming after the end of the Second World War acquired an pool or sports hall, thus stressing their non-pillarised institutional character in the mid-1960s. In 1963, character and emphasising openness to all strata of the country was split into four language areas the population. One of the first public swimming (Flemish/French/bilingual (Flemish-French)/German) pools, which opened shortly after the five-day and in 1965 the National Ministry of Education and working week was approved, was the indoor pool Culture was split into two autonomous bodies: a in Leuven. Not only the narrative concerning the Ministry for Flemish Culture and its French counter- erection of this pool but also its architectural features part.42 The erection of a multitude of leisure and use are symptomatic of the difficult transition centres in Flanders thus, beyond a means of demo- from a pillarised to a pluralistic outlook. cratising access to leisure, became a tool to affirm The town of Leuven took on the task of con- the validity of this newly founded ministry of structing a municipal swimming pool in 1954, Flemish culture and the authority of the Flemish after a social-democrat had been elected mayor, language community.43 and asked Maxime Brunfaut, a well-known archi- Of course, this shift from a leisure culture divided tect from Brussels, to produce a design. The along the lines of pillar-affiliations to a pluralistic choice of Brunfaut was not coincidental, he was 573

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the youngest descendant in a line of architects that not have come as a surprise. The decision was of already from the early twentieth century onwards course vigorously lamented in the public media by had been key protagonists in the field of ‘socialist the Catholic party, which scorned the mayor for modernism’. Maxime Brunfaut was the nephew of selecting a French-speaking architect from Brussels Gaston Brunfaut, the architect of Home Emile Van- ‘as if none of the local architects were good dervelde I, who was not only a renowned architect enough’.51 Although never explicitly mentioned, it but also a well-known critic and writer. In 1931 is safe to assume that the major reason for Christian- Gaston Brunfaut presented a decentralisation democratic criticism of Maxime Brunfaut lay not so study for the public swimming pools of Brussels much in the fact that he was a French-speaking and—based on the belief that everyone should be architect from Brussels, but rather in his overt predi- able to enjoy the benefits of water, air and lection for socialism, which he advocated vigorously. sun46—introduced a ‘formula’ for a standardised The plan of this building adequately expressed pool-model that could be applied in smaller com- Maxime’sobsession withle bon plan and could, accord- munes and in neighbourhoods.47 He described ing to the architectural critic Johan Lagae, be seen as a these swimming pools as places where ‘collective ‘formal exercise in the idiomatic expression of the Neue life’ could take shape; places that corresponded to Sachlicheit’.52 The highest building block, covering the the needs of the whole population: ‘Vie collective largest of the two pools, was emphasised by an inclined apparaissant la` , conforme aux besoins et aspirations roof and contained bleachers to accommodate specta- de la masse’.48 tors during aquatic events. The adjacent building block

Downloaded by [UQ Library] at 02:57 29 August 2013 Beyond Maxime Brunfaut’s familial ties, his archi- of the smaller pool contained a cafeteria, which was tectural oeuvre also made him noticed in social- directly accessible from the enclosed inner courtyard democratic and architectural circles. In 1933 he (Fig. 10). Although this architectural schema empha- was commissioned by the health insurance associ- sised both the healthy and recreational aspects of the ation of the Social-Democrats, La Pre´ voyance sport, the design also stressed the hygienic precedent Sociale, to design a sanatorium on the periphery of public swimming baths by providing a number of of Brussels.49 This building became one of the mani- individual baths in the basement, where people who festations of modernistic architecture in Belgium did not yet have a bathroom in their house could and presented not only a formal translation of the come to bathe. The building thus positioned itself on progressive ideas that to be found in the writings the junction between the purely functional use of of Gaston Brunfaut,50 but also an architectural swimming pools for bathing and hygiene, and their embodiment of the aspirations of the socialist new function as a place for sports, recreation and movement in general. Bearing this knowledge in encounter. mind, the selection of Maxime Brunfaut as architect When in 1958, after four years of construction, the for the public swimming pool of Leuven by the swimming pool opened its doors, the social-demo- recently elected social-democratic mayor should cratic party did not omit to advertise on the front 574

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Figure 10. Design sketch for the swimming pool in Leuven by Maxime Brunfaut: # city archives, Leuven.

page of its election bulletin: ‘We keep the promises ately after it had opened.56 However, not all unilater- we make, vote socialist!’(Fig. 11)53 Not only the ally adopted this same attitude. For instance the public campaign that was held to promote the erec- Catholic Sint-Pieterscollege for boys in Leuven tion of this swimming pool bears witness to its ideo- prohibited its students by school regulation from logical predilection but the formal design principles swimming in the public pool, both during and after that guided the creation of the swimming pool also school hours. Even if parents approved, the school testify to its ‘socialist nature’. In Brunfaut’s early did not, and students who endeavoured to swim in Downloaded by [UQ Library] at 02:57 29 August 2013 work several critics had detected an affinity with the pool were punished. It is, however, safe to Russian constructivism, an architectural idiom assume that this attitude was not invoked by the clearly associated with the early soviet socialism of socialist nature of the swimming pool, but rather by the 1920s.54 This affinity is also visible in the design the fact that it catered to men and women simul- of the Leuven swimming pool, as evidenced by the taneously and did not reserve special opening hours angular, geometric character of the building, based for males, as it did for women (on Tuesday mornings) on a rational composition of geometric elements and for (Catholic) clergy.57 Catholic concerns about that create an asymmetric balance between the possibly harmful sports practices thus lingered on different volumes (Fig. 12).55 for some time, but the general tendency clearly Even though the building bore a ‘socialist’ conno- pointed towards encouraging the communal use of tation in both its political constellation and its formal sports and leisure infrastructure. language, no distinction based on ideological The Leuven swimming pool is typical of the transi- alliance was made in its use or exploitation. Local tional period in which the overt impact of the pillars schools, for instance, both state and Catholic, took on practically all aspects of life diminished and their students swimming in this pool almost immedi- society became more or less de-pillarised. Even 575

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The erection of swimming pools, sports halls and Figure 11. Front page recreational domains industriously continued during of the 1958 socialist election bulletin for the 1960s and 1970s, and was in 1965 complemen- Leuven: # city archives, ted with a new typology of cultural infrastructure: Leuven. the cultural centre. Cultural centres were designed to create spaces where everyone—regardless of social status or pillar-affiliation—could get a taste of high ‘culture’ (eg, theatre performances, art exhi- bitions, concerts, etc.) while simultaneously provid- ing room to accommodate bottom-up initiatives (eg, art classes for children, meeting areas for local clubs, rehearsal spaces for amateur theatre, etc.). This infrastructure was thus attributed with both an educational function by promoting ‘high culture’ through its own programme, as well as a supportive function by offering spaces for the organisation of ‘grassroots’ events. A plan to con- struct these cultural centres was presented at a seminar in 1964 by Belgium’s first minister of

Downloaded by [UQ Library] at 02:57 29 August 2013 Flemish culture, Renaat Van Elslande. Based on prior studies,58 Van Elslande stated that the pro- motion of culture was equivalent to its dissemina- tion and there was a lack of infrastructure to achieve this. Most auditoria in Flanders were of though a clearly identified pillar, or its affiliated political dubious quality and privately owned; they either party, claimed responsibility for building the pool belonged to hotels and bars and/or were associated (expecting to be rewarded for it in the elections), the with pillarised organisations. Van Elslande therefore construction was completely financed with public concluded that it was the responsibility of the gov- money. The municipal authorities, composed of differ- ernment to provide the necessary centres for ent political ‘colours’, subsequently ensured that this culture and proposed an ambitious plan to construct infrastructure functioned as a public institution. The over 400 cultural centres in Flanders.59 Leuven pool thus gradually came to be seen as a As the first cultural centres began to operate in the ‘municipal’ rather than a ‘socialist’ facility, and was late 1960s to early 1970s, an agreement was formu- used in a pluralist way, contributing to the mitigation lated to safeguard the pluralistic character of all the of tensions between people from different pillars. new types of social infrastructure which had been 576

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Figure 12. Photograph of the swimming pool in Leuven from, approximately, the late 1960s/ early 1970s: by this time, the patio in front of the pool had been transformed into a parking area: # city archives, Leuven.

developed over the past few decades. A ‘Culture local newspaper de Hasselaar, the then president of

Downloaded by [UQ Library] at 02:57 29 August 2013 Pact’, to which we referred earlier, was formalised in the Cultural board of Hasselt, expressed these ambi- 1974, and stated: ‘all government institutions, all insti- tions as follows: ‘It is our explicit wish that this cultural tutions erected by the government and every organiz- centre will not turn into a temple of Culture,...;it ation or person that permanently has at its disposal a should rather become an open house, where we all governmental infrastructure, should abstain from feel at home and where we can make culture any form of discrimination, exclusion or limitation “together”, each according to their own disposition, based on ideological or philosophical grounds.’60 with their own capabilities and widely accessible to These principles came to the fore strongly during the all who for one reason or another are deprived [of realisation of the cultural centre in Hasselt, which culture]’.61 opened its doors in 1972. In contrast to the swimming These desires were skilfully translated into the pool in Leuven, which was initially hailed as a ‘socialist’ architectural features of the building itself, resulting achievement, cultural centres were not tiedto anideo- in a low-profile cultural centre deliberately designed logical belief or political party and were from the start to efface both physical and mental thresholds that promoted as ‘centres for encounter’, centres open to could form a barrier for potential visitors who all and centres that could effectuate the democratisa- wanted to enter. The architects, Isia Isgour, Louis tion of culture. In the December, 1972, issue of the Peeters and Etienne Vreven, designed a low, predo- 577

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Figure 13. Photograph of the cultural centre of Hasselt, shortly after its opening in 1972: # city archives, Hasselt.

Figure 14. Drawing of the eastern fac¸ade of the cultural centre of Hasselt, by the Downloaded by [UQ Library] at 02:57 29 August 2013 architects Isgour, Vreven and Peeters: # city archives, Hasselt.

minantly two-storey building with local, natural and literally. This play between inside and outside materials, such as red brick, blue stone and different recurred throughout the building as walls appeared types of wood. The most important volumes of the to run continuously from the exterior through the building—the large assembly hall, the theatre interior of the building into the enclosed patio. The tower and the ballroom—were clearly accentuated, idea inspiring this spatial strategy was to guide the as they popped out above the transparent base visitor into the cultural centre ‘before he [was] even volume (figs 13, 14). Inside and outside practically aware of it’.62 Isgour, Peeters and Vreven reinforced merged into each other, as the pattern of blue this idea by avoiding the use of a flight of steps to stone tiles seemed to flow uninterruptedly under mark the entrance. The entry hall, which was, just the glass curtain wall which almost invisibly closed like the foyer, located on the ground floor, was incor- the spacious foyer off from the outside, thus dimin- porated in the low, transparent base and accentu- ishing the building’s ‘threshold’, both figuratively ated only by an awning of six polyester cupolas. 578

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To allow a wide variety of activities to take place between February and April 1977, five years after simultaneously, the architects endowed the building the cultural centre first opened its doors, showed with a strong layout whose ‘basic ingredients’ that the majority of its ‘cultural consumers’ were comprised a number of polyvalent rooms and a flex- in fact highly educated middle-class people ible circulation system. The use of wide, glass doors between thirty and forty-five years of age.65 throughout the building permitted easy modifi- When analysing the clientele from a pillar point of cations of the plan. Depending on scheduled activi- view, one could claim that the cultural centre ties, they were able to connect or separate spaces indeed succeeded in addressing a pluralistic without isolating them from the rest of the cultural crowd. Complete records of all organisations that centre.63 The centre furthermore specifically made use of the building’s facilities, which can be addressed the desire to ‘democratise’ culture and found in the annual reports, listed, amongst many make it accessible to all regardless of not only others, foundations such as the Willemsfonds pillar affiliation but also of social status and age. (a liberal organisation for adult edification), B.S.P. These efforts could be recognised in the building’s De Voorzorg (the socialist health insurance physical form as well as in its programming and association) and the A.C.W. (the Christian organisation. Special attention was given to young- workers’ union);66 a small, yet striking, sample of sters, seniors and the physically impaired; minority the ideologically diverse groups utilising the groups who did not have easy access to activities centre. Although it thus, like many others that innate to the cultural ‘sphere’. For instance, the were built in this period, catered to an ideologically

Downloaded by [UQ Library] at 02:57 29 August 2013 minimisation of physical thresholds and the inte- diverse public, it has been questioned whether it gration of a lift into the complex were only a few really effectuated de-pillarisation, given that the of the consciously conceived construction ‘details’ organisations utilising it were still ideologically that were designed literally to make the building coloured, the only difference being that they now accessible to all. gathered ‘under one roof’.67 The programming also targeted a diverse audi- ence. Events such as puppet theatre, drawing com- Conclusion petitions and a play about Rumpelstiltskin are only a The welfare state which developed in Belgium was few examples of the rich ‘youth programme’ that quite peculiar in terms of its architecture and urban- the cultural centre boasted from day one. Senior ism. The strong socio-political partitioning that citizens received special attention as anyone over characterised Belgium up until the mid-twentieth the age of sixty-five was given a 50% reduction of century was clearly reflected in the built environ- the usual admission fee for events.64 Nevertheless, ment, in both the construction of private dwellings despite the various efforts to appeal to a broad audi- and in the development of social facilities. Each ence, the users of the cultural centre were not quite pillar had its own infrastructure, which in formal as diverse as anticipated. A survey which was held shape and in daily use expressed the ideals of that 579

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pillar and usually catered only to affiliated people. life beyond class, age and pillar distinction, to be This period of strong pillarisation, between roughly able to counter immoral distractions offered by 1930 and 1960, produced a number of architectural the expanding consumer culture. A broad coalition masterpieces (predominantly on the socialist side) across ideology thus legitimised the massive public which eloquently represented the governing ideals investments in this leisure infrastructure, which of specific ideologies through architecture. In the cropped up all over Flanders in a fine-grained later decades of the twentieth century, however, a manner. clear shift can be identified in Belgium’s socio- The relationship between this new infrastructure cultural sphere, wherein pillars no longer acted as and the trend to de-pillarisation should not be the constructors of leisure infrastructure. This roˆ le underestimated. It seems entirely plausible to claim had gradually been adopted by the state, the that this public leisure infrastructure contributed to provinces and the municipalities. This shift was the fact that, from the 1970s onwards, less and brought about by two motives. less people tended to identify with a specific First, the different pacts that made up the politi- pillar.68 However, although these buildings were cal consensus that led to the welfare state (the public, they were stricto sensu not always used in Social Pact, the School Pact, the Cultural Pact) a pluralistic way. Cultural centres, for example, assigned financial responsibility for providing catered to different ideological organisations by welfare facilities to the state. Although the housing them ‘under one roof’. This is of course a system which had been operational in the first far cry from a veritable process of de-pillarisation, 69

Downloaded by [UQ Library] at 02:57 29 August 2013 half of the twentieth century, in which pillarised as the sociologist Staf Hellemans pointed out. organisations distributed state money for benefits Even if they addressed a pluralistic public through such as unemployment allowances or health insur- their own programme, records of their receptive ance, had proven its value, this mechanism did not function show that they also sustained the co-exist- make sense when it came to building expensive ence of ideologically tainted cultural organisations. leisure infrastructure. Hence the pillars were recon- One could conclude that these leisure facilities con- ciled to the state subsidising the construction of tributed to development of a neo-pillarisation rather sports centres, swimming pools and cultural than to de-pillarisation. Certain, however, it is that centres which were supposed to be ‘public’ and this infrastructure actively contributed to the cater to all. This evolution was secondly supported decline of the pillars’ association with a specific by the political and cultural elite affiliated to these architectural language. different pillars, who agreed that sports and culture While during the first half of the twentieth were beneficial for all, regardless of ideological century until well into the 1960s the ideological stra- adherence. An increasing call for democratisation tification of Belgian society was clearly represented and pluralisation developed, which pleaded for in the built environment, this phenomenon began the strengthening of social bonds and community to fade by the end of the 1960s. The unfolding of 580

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the social welfare state, through the development of A similar fate befell Hengelhoef, originally built by leisure infrastructure, contributed to a visible de-pil- the Catholic pillar. While the main building is still larisation of Belgian society which led to a loss of standing, albeit in a dilapidated state, most of the bun- affinity with buildings that were erected by pillarised galows have been demolished and the major attrac- institutions. People no longer identified with these tion of the holiday park today is a tropical swimming edifices and became indifferent towards them. pool, which can in no way be tied back to its Catholic Many of the pillarised centres, remnants of a origin. Conversely, most of the pluralist leisure infra- bygone era, were consequently demolished as structure that was constructed later by ‘neutral’ muni- soon as they lost their functional value or became cipalities is still standing and in use today. unprofitable. Home Emile Vandervelde II was merci- In these past decades an interesting debate has lessly torn down in 1995, despite strident protests emerged, questioning whether Belgium is really from architectural and artistic circles. In homage to de-pillarised or rather characterised by a neo- this once visionary vacation colony, the following pillarisation.72 These alleged ‘neo-pillars’ softened passage may be cited: their ideological creeds and diversified their sphere The socialist movement, which at one time ident- of influence, resulting in a diminishing influence in ified itself with this new and daring modernist socio-cultural milieux. They no longer showed architectural idiom, again [after the destruction interest in building their own ‘ideologically deter- of Horta’s Maison du Peuple] seems to burn its mined’ leisure centres for their devotees and own flag. While this movement today presents retreated within the political arena, the domain in

Downloaded by [UQ Library] at 02:57 29 August 2013 itself as the shepherd of social security, it destroys which they now proliferate most strongly. Although a magnificent building, which succeeded to poe- these pillars are still active in, for example, health tically represent—both in its content as well as in care organisation, their services have been profes- its formal expression—the aspirations of the sionalised and no longer evoke the strident totalitar- young social-democratic welfare state. 70 ian character of their ancestors. They have The swimming pool in Leuven was also destroyed in transformed into (‘merely’) integrated networks of 2006 as soon as the social value of having a pool, or organisations. As sociologist Luc Huyse expressed even a modernist masterpiece in the city centre, it in 1987: could no longer counterbalance the lucrative mon- For eighty years pillarization was first and fore- etary return on the redevelopment of the central most a social stratification based on ideological site on which it was located.71 More striking about underpinnings. Secondly [they] were extensive the destruction of this swimming pool is that a networks of organizations, linked to the State socialist mayor was in place when the city council by a ‘marriage of convenience’. This situation gave its consent to tear the building down. has inverted. The secondary characteristics have Evidently, the powers-that-be in the present socialist become dominant, [while] the primary features movement feel that this past has had its day. faded to the background.73 581

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Loyalty to a certain pillar was no longer as pervasive Notes and references or as self-evident as it used to be. The fear of ‘the 1. P. Pasture, ‘The April 1944 “Social Pact” in Belgium other’ based on ideological differences was gradually and its Significance for the Post-War Welfare State’, tamed as it made way for a ‘novel’ fear rooted in cul- Journal of Contemporary History, number 4 (October, tural, linguistic and even racial prejudice. 1993), pp. 696–714. 2. J. Dryzek and R. E. Goodin, ‘Risk-Sharing and Social This societal shift can be read in Belgium’s social Justice: The Motivational Foundations of the Post- infrastructure, and particularly in its leisure facilities. War Welfare State’, British Journal of Political The pillarised society, which in the first half of the Science, number 1 (January, 1986), pp. 1–34. twentieth century gave rise to a multitude of ideologi- 3. M. Ryckewaert and K. Theunis, ‘Het Lelijkste Land, de cally ‘coloured’ edifices such as holiday centres and mythe voorbij. Stedenbouw en verstedelijking in Belgie¨ vacation domains, began to crumble around the sinds 1945’, Stadsgeschiedenis, number 2 (2006), end of the 1950s. The new infrastructure created by pp. 148–168; H. Heynen, ‘Belgium and the Nether- the welfare state contributed to this evolution in the lands: two different ways of coping with the housing sense that it was specifically designed to generate crisis 1945–1970’, Home Cultures, number 2 (2010), ‘encounters’ and brought members of the different pp. 159–178. pillars in contact with each other. This was clearly 4. M. Hooghe, ‘Ontzuiling in de Lage Landen’, Ons Erfdeel, number 2 (April, 2008), pp. 4–19. visible in the design of cultural centres but also 5. Pillarisation has been recognised in other European increasingly became an important aspect in the countries as well; amongst others in the Netherlands, design of other recreational infrastructure.74 This Austria, Switzerland, Germany and Italy. See:

Downloaded by [UQ Library] at 02:57 29 August 2013 ideological de-stratification of Belgian society S. Hellemans, Strijd om de Moderniteit (Leuven, Uni- around the 1960s loosened the bonds between the versitaire Pers, 1990). 75 Flemish- and French-speaking Belgians. It contribu- 6. The sociologist Raf Vanderstraeten defines these pillars ted to a new social stratification, now based on ethno- as: ‘(...) internally divided blocs which hold different linguistic differences. The pillarised society of the first religious and ideological persuasions and which are half of the twentieth century made way for a society effectively isolated from each other by innumerable divided along ethno-linguistic lines and the leisure institutions and organizations that exclusively infrastructure that was erected in the following serve members of their own community.’ In: R. Vanderstraeten, ‘Cultural Values and Social Differ- decades was accordingly designed to express the entiation: the Catholic pillar and its education system authority of the Flemish-language community. In the in Belgium and the Netherlands’, Compare: A Journal meantime, these ethno-linguistic tensions have of Comparative and International Education, number become more complex because of the growing pres- 2 (2002), p. 133. ence of migrant communities. And so, as our society is 7. N. Stieber, Housing Design and Society in Amsterdam. increasingly becoming multi-cultural, one cannot help Reconfiguring Urban Order and Identity 1900–1920 but wonder what the ‘palaces for the people’ will be (Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 1998). in this new, ethnically splintered Belgian society. 8. P. Pasture, op. cit. 582

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9. P. Dekker and P. Ester, ‘Depillarization, deconfessiona- 14. These vacation colonies have been called the succes- lization and de-ideologization: Empirical trends in sors of the ‘sea hospitals’ for children suffering from Dutch society 1958–1992’, Review of Religious tuberculosis that were constructed all over Europe Research, number 4 (June, 1996), pp. 325–341; during the second half of the nineteenth century. J. Billiet, ‘Van verwerpelijke verzuiling naar geprezen France and Italy were the main proponents in the middenveld: Bilan van 30 jaar onderzoek’, Tijdschrift development of these sea hospitals; Belgium also con- voor Sociologie, number 1 (2004), pp. 129–157. structed two around 1880. See: B. Vanobbergen, 10. K. Theunis, The quest for a Belgian housing project, ‘ “Het gaat niet zozeer om het genezen, maar om 1965–1975: approaches between designers and auth- het hervormen.” Over de rol en de betekenis van het orities in the practice of private housing (KULeuven, zeehospitaal voor kinderen in het hygie¨ neoffensief unpublished doctoral dissertation, 2008); F. Strauven, van het eind van de negentiende eeuw.’, Tijdschrift Renaat Braem: de dialectische avonturen van een voor Geschiedenis, number 1 (2009), pp. 48–61. Vlaams functionalist (Brussels, Archief voor Moderne 15. M. Vermandere, wireless interview during the pro- Architectuur, 1983). gramme Memo (Radio 2) on 16.06.2008. 11. In 1889 a law was issued which prohibited children 16. Symptomatic in this respect is an article published in under the age of 12 from performing industrial the March, 1973, issue of the Catholic sports maga- labour and which stipulated that boys between the zine Sporta, entitled: ‘Gemengd zwemmen’, which ages of 12 and 16 and girls between the ages of 12 translates as ‘Mixed Swimming’. This short text and 21 could not work more than 12 hours a day, 6 recounts a confusion that occurred in the Dutch days a week. See: E. Witte, J.-P. Nandrin, E. Gubin, town Arnhem, when the subject ‘mixed swimming’ G. Deneckere, Nieuwe Geschiedenis van Belgie¨I, was brought up during the municipal council and

Downloaded by [UQ Library] at 02:57 29 August 2013 1830–1905 (Tielt, Lannoo, 2005). one of the aldermen asked: ‘when we talk about 12. P. Uyttenhove, ‘The many aspects of children’s holiday mixed swimming, we talk about the use of one swim- camps’, in, B. Valter, B. Smaranda, eds, Architecture ming pool by Catholics and Protestants together, and the society of the holiday camps; history and per- correct?’ This one-liner not only perfectly represents spectives (Timisoara, Orizonture universitare, 2007), the pillarised climate of the Netherlands in that p. 7. period—and the fact that such a seemingly ‘insignifi- 13. The hygienist movement in Belgium developed around cant’ newsflash (from the Netherlands moreover) the mid-nineteenth century. This group of social acti- was published in a Belgian, Catholic periodical—but vists, mainly doctors, noticed that lower social groups also eloquently reflects the pillarised atmosphere in were more likely to fall prey to epidemics and diseases. Belgium in this period, in which members of the They consequently started a campaign to propagate Catholic pillar indeed worried about swimming along- public hygiene. They believed that everyone was side socialists. Source: [Author not known], ‘Gemengd entitled to good health and strove to annihilate existing zwemmen’, Sporta, number 3 (March, 1973), p. 12. inequality (regarding access to facilities to maintain 17. M. Hooghe, ‘Ontzuiling in de Lage Landen’, Ons Erfdeel, good health) between ‘high’ and ‘low’ social groups. number 2 (April, 2008), pp. 4–19; J. Billiet, op. cit. See: L. Nys, H. de Smaele, J. Tollebeek, K. Wils, De 18. Today, the term ‘encounters’ has become a buzz-word Zieke Natie (Groningen, Historische Uitgeverij, 2008). in the discourse describing the ‘new’ public spaces that 583

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the welfare state produced. Also, in architectural circles 21. P. Uyttenhove, op. cit. a growing interest can be identified in (welfare-state) 22. An interesting account of the relationship between architecture that was specifically designed to accom- modernism and socialism can be found in: modate social encounters. For instance, in 2001 the J. Wambacq, L. Verpoest, H. Heynen, Het Paleis op architectural journal Oase published a themed issue de Heide (Brussels, Academic and Scientific Publishers, which highlighted several interesting case studies. 2009). The editorial of this issue stated that: ‘In the aftermath 23. Children with health problems could stay for two con- of 1968 the developed Western world embarked on a tingents. large scale process of democratisation and emancipa- 24. M. De Kooning, Lucien Engels (Mechelen, Vlees en tion that ran parallel to the rise of the consumer and Beton 26–27, 1995). leisure society. Society’s urge for renewal also had its 25. S. Jacobs, ‘Zeesterren tussen duinen en polders. Home consequences for architecture. New definitions and Emile Vandervelde II van Lucien Engels (1954–1957)’, architectural forms were sought, leading to highly Archis, number 3 (March, 1996), p. 65. divergent positions some of which are led by a strongly 26. [Author not known], Zonnige Uren. Zakboekje voor de developed social preoccupation and confidence in the Moniteur (Brussels, v.z.w. Zonnige Uren, Socialistisch role of architecture as a means of shaping society. The Vooruitziende Vrouwen, 196?: probably that decade), question how to stimulate the cultural commitment pp. 1–2. of the public in order to enable individuals to appropri- 27. [Author not known], ‘Home Vandervelde, a` Oostduin- ate public space, and more generally, engage in mean- kerke. Architecte: L.-J. Engels (E.N.S.A.)’, La Maison ingful social encounter is a recurrent topic in the (May, 1958), p. 141. architectural debates.’ See: M. Bijlsma, M. Maaskant, 28. S. Jacobs, op. cit., p. 64.

Downloaded by [UQ Library] at 02:57 29 August 2013 E. Schreurs, ‘Introduction to the 1970s Revisited’, 29. Quotation from the architect Lucien Engels in M. De Oase. Tijdschrift voor architectuur/Architecture Kooning, op. cit. Journal, theme issue: 1970s Revisited, number 57 30. S. Jacobs, op. cit., p. 65. (2001), pp. i–iii. 31. An interesting narration on the development of social 19. Interesting accounts of the development of vacation tourism in France can be read in E. Furlough, ‘Making colonies in France and the Netherlands can be found Mass Vacations: Tourism and Consumer Culture in in: L.L. Downs, Childhood in the Promised Land: France’, Comparative Studies in Society and History, working-class movements and the Colonies de number 3 (1998), pp. 247–286. vacances in France (1880–1960) (Durham, Duke Uni- 32. K. Krauwels, Het recreatiepark in Vlaanderen anno versity Press, 2002); M. Swankhuizen, K. Schweizer, 1958–1978. Een architectuurtheoretische en sociaal- A. Stoel, Bleekneusjes. Vakantiekolonies in Nederland historische analyse (KULeuven, unpublished master’s 1883–1970 (Bussum, Thoth, 2003). thesis, 2008). 20. Several large companies also built vacation domains 33. B. Reggers, Vakantiebehoeften en –wensen: een for their employees and their families. A fine onderzoek bij de verlofgangers van het vakantiedorp example is Home RTT in Oostduinkerke, designed by “Hengelhoef” (Centrale Hogeschool voor Christelijke the architect Henry Lacoste for the children of RTT Arbeiders, unpublished thesis, 1965). employees (the Belgian national telephone operator). 34. Algemeen Christelijk Werknemersverbond. 584

Designing the Belgian welfare state 1950s to 1970s: social reform, leisure and ideological adherence Janina Gosseye, Hilde Heynen

35. [Author not known], De arbeidersvakantie in het raam government on January 28th, 1974, issued the van de vrije tijd (A.C.W., 16th conference in Brussels, Culture Pact (Cultuurpact), which protected ideologi- 1952), p. 5. cal and philosophical minorities in the cultural sphere. 36. The number of houses with a bathroom equipped with 40. F. Van Mechelen, Vrijetijdsbesteding in Vlaanderen. a bath or shower increased from 23.6% in 1961 to Een sociologisch onderzoek bij de aktieve nederland- 49.1% in 1970. Source: E. De Vos, “Hoe zouden we stalige bevolking van Belgie¨ (Antwerp, Uitgeverij s.m. graag wonen?” Woonvertogen en –praktijken in de ontwikkeling, 1964), p. 125. jaren 1960–1970 in Vlaanderen (KULeuven, unpub- 41. B.J. De Clercq, ‘De evolutie van de verzuiling in Neder- lished doctoral dissertation, 2008). land en Belgie¨ ’, Ons Erfdeel, number 2 (December, 37. B. Reggers, op. cit., pp. 95–96. 1967). 38. The School Pact (Schoolpact) is an accord which was 42. W. De Pauw, Minister Dixit. Een geschiedenis van het signed by Belgium’s three (major) political parties in Vlaamse cultuurbeleid (Antwerp-Apeldoorn, Garant, 1958, agreeing that the free education system (predo- 2005), p.16. minantly catholic) would, just like the state school 43. S. Hellemans, ‘De Culturele Centra in Vlaanderen. system, obtain (government) subsidies on the con- Tussen overheid, zuilen en cultuur’, in, M. De dition that they would both follow the same set of Kepper, ed, Culturele Centra. Op Zoek naar een regulations. This School Pact ended the School War Profiel (Brussels, FEVECC, 1993). (Schoolstrijd) that had been going on for almost a 44. B. Morel, ‘Sport-Sport-Sport...’, Sporta, number 4 decade, between both education systems. (April, 1962), p. 67. 39. Although the Catholic pillar was very powerful in 45. A. Cauwels, ‘Sportieve Opvoeding. Humanisme of Flanders (the northern, Flemish-speaking region), Christendom?’, Sporta, number 3 (March, 1962), p. 45.

Downloaded by [UQ Library] at 02:57 29 August 2013 there was only a small minority of Christian demo- 46. G. Brunfaut, ‘Bassins de Natation’, Le Document, crats in Wallonia (the southern, francophone Organe de l’association des Architectes et Dessina- region), where the Socialist pillar was much stronger teurs d’Art Belgique (1931). and the Christian-democrats constituted a minority. 47. P.L. Flouquet, ‘les Bassins de Natation et la Sante´ Pub- Consequently, strong ties were forged between the lique’, Baˆtir, number 19 (June, 1934), p. 715–716. socialist minority in Flanders and its great Walloon 48. G. Brunfaut, op. cit. ally, and between the Christian democratic minority 49. See J. Wambacq, L. Verpoest, H. Heynen, op. cit. in Wallonia and its large Christian-democratic 50. J.M. Basyn, ‘De Architecten Brunfaut, een Sociaal counterpart in Flanders. However, when in the Bewogen Oeuvre’, Monumenten en Landschappen, second half of the twentieth century, Belgium number 1 (2004), p. 50. started re-aligning itself along ethno-linguistic lines, 51. [Author not known], ‘Een Kaakslag’, Loven Boven, these ideological minorities in both Flanders (socialist Verkiezingsblad van de C.V.P. voor de stad Leuven, minority) and Wallonia (Christian-democratic min- number 2 (1958), p. 1. ority) felt threatened. They feared that a federalisa- 52. J. Lagae, ‘Brunfaut’, in, M. De Kooning, ed, Horta and tion of the country would result in a complete After, 25 Masters of Modern Architecture in Belgium eradication of the rights of ideological minorities in (Ghent, Department of Architecture and Urbanism, both regions. To counter these qualms, the Belgian 2001), p. 142. 585

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53. [Author not known], ‘Een Grote Dag voor Leuven’, De 63. K. Van Herck, ‘Cultuurcentrum’, in, S. De Caigny, Volkswil, Maandblad voor de Belgische Socialistische A. Nevejans, L. Mertens, B. Provo, eds, Isia Isgour Partij, Afdeling Leuven, number 2 (September, 1958), 1913–1967 (Antwerp, CVAa & Vai, 2008). p. 1. 64. P. Jaspaert, ‘Het jaar dat was...’, Het Belang van 54. J. Lagae, op. cit., p. 138. Limburg (5th September, 1973), p. 5. 55. Russian constructivism is a form of modern architec- 65. [Author not known], ‘Welk publiek komt er naar het ture that flourished in the Soviet Union in the 1920s C.C.H.?’, Waarheen te Hasselt, number 6 (April, and early 1930s. It combined advanced technology 1978), p. 11. and engineering with an avowedly Communist social 66. Annual Report, cultural centre, Hasselt, 1976, pp. 26– purpose. See, for instance, Kenneth Frampton’s 27; from the archives of the cultural centre. seminal work: Modern Architecture. A critical History 67. S. Hellemans, op. cit., p. 16. (London, Thames & Hudson, 1980) for more infor- 68. L. Huyse, De verzuiling voorbij (Leuven, Kritak, 1987); mation. J. Billiet, op. cit. 56. Interview with Roger Geets, retired school teacher of a 69. S. Hellemans, op. cit., p. 16. state elementary school in Wijgmaal, on October 6th, 70. S. Jacobs, in, M. De Kooning, R. De Meyer, eds, 2008 in Wijgmaal; interview on March 25th, 2010 in Hommage Home Emile Vandervelde II, Oostduinkerke Leuven with Monique Van Damme, resident of (Mechelen, Vlees en Beton 30, 1996), unnumbered. Leuven, who between 1955 and 1961 attended 71. The swimming pool of Leuven has been replaced with the Catholic high school for girls, Sancta Maria in 35 luxury flats, 2 ‘urban houses’, 2 loft dwellings and 5 Leuven. commercial spaces. 57. Interview on March 30th, 2010 in Leuven with Jean- 72. The term ‘neo-pillars’ was first introduced by the soci-

Downloaded by [UQ Library] at 02:57 29 August 2013 Pierre Van Damme, resident of Leuven and former ologist Staf Hellemans in his book Strijd om de Moder- student of the Catholic Sint-Pieterscollege, who niteit, op. cit. attended classes in this school up until 1962. 73. L. Huyse, op. cit. 58. F. Van Mechelen, op. cit. 74. Several articles in the sports magazine of the Catholic 59. J. de Roeck, ‘Culturele Centra in Vlaanderen. Inventaris pillar, Sporta, starting from the early seventies, stress en Evaluatie’, Ons Erfdeel, number 1 (1981), pp. 27– the importance of ‘shaping encounters’ in the design 38; P. Vermeulen, ‘Cultural centres. A journey of sports infrastructure. For example, P. De Praetere, through the nebular city’, Archis (October, 2000), ‘Bedenkingen bij de bouw en exploitatie van een pp. 12–22. zwembad’, Sporta, number 4 (April, 1973), pp. 108– 60. Decree of January 28th, 1974: Culture Pact; published 111; J.M. Agten, ‘Gecombineerd school- en sportcen- in Belgisch Staatsblad / Le Moniteur Belge on May trum: ontmoetingsforum voor de gemeenschap’, 31st, 1974. Sporta, number 3 (March, 1974), p. 78. 61. G. Ottenbourgs, ‘Nu het cultureel centrum er is...’, de 75. See Note 39 above and P. Pasture, ‘Divergent Develop- Hasselaar, number 76 (December, 1972), p. 6. ments, Regional Alliances and National Solidarity in 62. [Author not known], ‘Kultureel centrum Hasselt geeft Belgium’, in, J. Wets, ed, Cultural Diversity in Trade Limburg een nieuwe dimensie’, Het Belang van Unions. A Challenge to Class Identity? (Aldershot/ Limburg (29th October, 1972). Vermont, Ashgate Publishing, 2000), pp. 35–70.