Plan Gestion 2016-2021
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The Grande-Place in Brussels, Unesco heritage Management plan – 2016-2021 Brussels Grand-Place, UNESCO heritage Management Plan - 2016-2022 MANAGEMENT PLAN FOR THE SITE OF THE GRAND PLACE IN BRUSSELS 2016-2021 1 Brussels Grand Place, UNESCO heritage Management Plan - 2016-2022 2 Brussels Grand-Place, UNESCO heritage Management Plan - 2016-2022 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION 5 2. METHODOLOGY 7 3. DESCRIPTION AND IMPORTANCE OF THE SITE 9 3.1. The Grand Place - historical context 9 3.2. The buffer zone - styles, architectural typologies and plots 11 3.3. The buffer zone - roads and dead-ends 13 3.4. Protection measures 15 3.5. Legal situation: the protection of architectural heritage 17 4. OUTSTANDING UNIVERSAL VALUE 19 5. KNOWLEDGE OF THE SITE - BUILDING STUDIES 22 5.1 The architectural and historical study of the houses of the Grand Place in Brussels 22 5.2 Study of the evolution of the buildings in the “Ilot Sacré” 25 6. MANAGEMENT PLAN 2016-2021, OBJECTIVES AND ACTION PLANS: DETAILED DESCRIPTION - SHEETS 27 7. STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE 1 - GOVERNANCE OF SITE MANAGEMENT 29 8. STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE 2: CONSERVATION OF HERITAGE BY ENSURING ITS INTEGRITY AND AUTHENTICITY 79 9. STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE 3: DEVELOPMENT OF A FUNCTIONAL BLEND, SHOPS AND HOUSING IN PARTICULAR 127 10. STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE 4: IMPROVEMENT OF THE LIVING ENVIRONMENT 179 11. STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE 5: AWARENESS-RAISING, PROMOTION, PARTNERSHIPS AND TOURISM DEVELOPMENT 215 12. REFERENCES 243 13. COLOPHON 245 3 Brussels Grand Place, UNESCO heritage Management Plan - 2016-2022 4 Brussels Grand-Place, UNESCO heritage Management Plan - 2016-2022 1. INTRODUCTION The Grand Place in Brussels, a prestigious setting in the centre of community life, was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in December 1998 and the surrounding area, commonly known as the “Ilot Sacré”, was designated as a buffer zone at the same time. This international recognition was an opportunity for the City of Brussels to draw up a series of action plans and launch various projects while laying the foundations for a comprehensive reflection aimed at restoring this major heritage to its former glory. This inscription at the global level implies a specific management of the heritage in question, and its buffer zone, in the light of the requirements of the World Heritage Convention. This requires the implementation of management plans which make it possible, based on a precise situational analysis and by identifying the problems affecting the heritage, to plan actions and interventions, to set future priorities, to set budgets accordingly in order to guarantee the effective conservation and preservation of the monuments, respect for their authenticity and integrity as well as the values for which they have been recognised by the World Heritage Committee. The UNESCO guidelines specify that the main objective of a management plan is to ensure the sustainability of World Heritage sites: Each site nominated for inscription on the World Heritage List must have a relevant management plan, which specifies the measures aimed at protecting the outstanding universal value of the site. The main purpose of the management plan is to ensure the effective protection of the designated site, so that it can be passed on to future generations. To be effective, a management plan must be designed according to the type, characteristics and needs of the proposed site, as well as its cultural and natural context. It can also integrate traditional practices, existing urban or regional planning instruments1. In 1998, when the Grand Place in Brussels was inscribed on the World Heritage List, the requirement to have a management plan was not yet in force. In 2012, to comply with World Heritage guidelines, the City of Brussels took the initiative to introduce such a management plan, together with the Directorate of Monuments and Sites of the Brussels Capital Region. Its development has put into perspective all the actions and projects developed over the past ten years by both the City of Brussels and the Brussels Capital Region, the two institutions which safeguard the values that have allowed these sites to receive worldwide recognition. This document has made it possible to plan the management of the site as well as possible, it establishes a transversal working relationship between the various stakeholders, and it constitutes guidelines for the strategies yet to be developed. 1"Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of the World Heritage Convention", United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, Intergovernmental Committee for the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, UNESCO 5 Brussels Grand Place, UNESCO heritage Management Plan - 2016-2022 6 Brussels Grand-Place, UNESCO heritage Management Plan - 2016-2022 2. METHODOLOGY The development of the management plan for the Grand Place and its buffer zone was made possible by having detailed knowledge of the site. Historical and architectural studies, as well as situational analyses, were carried out on all the buildings in the Grand Place from 1999 onwards. At the same time as these specifically heritage-related projects, urban planning studies for the district centred around the Grand Place and referred to as the “Ilot Sacré" were launched. This corresponds to the buffer zone and includes 25 blocks (area of 15 ha 68 a). This management document, which up until now has been non-existent within our administrations, has made it possible to implement an innovative working methodology, based above all on transversality between the various departments. Grouping all the ongoing actions and projects has made it possible to structure the management plan around five strategic objectives. These objectives stem from a political will developed in recent years, and more directly from the City of Brussels' general policy programme for the 2006-2012 mandate: 1. governance of the site; 2. conservation of the heritage by ensuring its integrity and authenticity; 3. development of a functional mix, in particular, retailing and housing; 4. improvement of the living environment; 5. awareness raising, promotion, exchanges and tourism development. These strategic objectives are divided into specific objectives, which are themselves broken down into action plans. These have been set out in collaboration with the various municipal departments and partners involved. They include actions already currently underway, as well as future actions. The first management plan was drawn up for a period of three years (2012-2015) and its content was endorsed in 4 stages: 1. At the City level, the implementation of administrative and technical structures that have followed the concept of the management plan, and which will ensure the future management of the site. The Historical Heritage Unit of the City of Brussels was tasked with coordination. It has brought together the various involved departments of the City of Brussels on several occasions. This has allowed the ongoing actions to be coordinated and new proposals to be put forward. The action plans are the drivers of the management strategy. Each department has been involved in the drafting of the management plan. 2. At the level of the Brussels Capital Region, coordination meetings with the City of Brussels on all the ongoing actions and new proposals for listed buildings. The regional services have also been involved in drafting the management plan. 3. First approval by the College of Mayor and Aldermen of the City of Brussels, before consultation with the various institutions and organisations active in the area: the Royal Commission for Monuments and Sites, Icomos Belgium, Neighbourhood Committees, Atrium Brussels centre, etc. 4. Approval of the final document by the College of Mayor and Aldermen of the City of Brussels. This has been revised and completed for a period of 6 years (2016-2021). 7 Brussels Grand Place, UNESCO heritage Management Plan - 2016-2022 8 Brussels Grand-Place, UNESCO heritage Management Plan - 2016-2022 3. DESCRIPTION AND IMPORTANCE OF THE SITE The Grand Place in Brussels is an outstanding example of a successful fusion of the architectural and artistic styles which are typical of the culture and society of this region. Due to the nature and quality of its architecture, and its value as an open public space, it is an exceptional illustration of the evolution and vicissitudes of an affluent northern European commercial city at the height of its prosperity.2 Panoramic view of the Grand Place 3.1. The Grand Place - historical context Since the Middle Ages, the Grand Place has been the economic and political heart of Brussels. Initially limited to an esplanade intended for the organisation of markets, this vast space was gradually lined with houses, shops and public buildings: a bread, cloth and meat hall, rebuilt several times and finally replaced in the 15th century by a building intended for the offices and courts of the ducal power and an imposing municipal hotel, built in several phases in the first half of the 15th century. Directly involved in the exercise of power, various professional representations - the corporations - built houses in the Grand Place or in the surrounding streets. Constructed in successive waves, the Grand Place nonetheless shows wonderful stylistic uniformity. This set of buildings was destroyed in August 1695, during the bombardment of the city by the troops of King Louis XIV, under the command of Marshal de Villeroi. Only a few façades held out, including those of the Town Hall and the King's House. Northwest side of the Grand Place after the bombardment of 1695. Drawing by Augustin Coppens. 2Proposal for the inscription of the Grand Place in Brussels on the World Heritage List, Brussels Capital Region, Directorate of Monuments and Sites, May 1997. 9 Brussels Grand Place, UNESCO heritage Management Plan - 2016-2022 Reconstruction was rapid but strictly controlled by the authorities: a regulation was enacted in 1697 to allow the Magistrate to control the aesthetic quality of the planned façades.