Maison du Peuple

Carved stone from the destroyed Maison du Peuple

The Blaton tower stands on the site of the Maison du Peuple.

The Maison du Peuple (French) or Volkshuis (Dutch) in Brussels, meaning "The House of the People" was one of the largest works of Belgian architect Victor Horta, festively opened on 2 April 1899.

In spite of a rather restrictive very irregular building place along a circular square and on a slope, Horta succeeded to construct a building with maximum functionality. The building provided rooms for several aims like offices, coffee shops, shops, meeting rooms and a party hall. The building had been mainly constructed in white iron (more than 600,000 kilogrammes). Fifteen craftsmen worked for eighteen months on the iron work. To make this construction possible, Horta drew no less than 8,500 square meters of plans. The building was completed in 1899 and was considered a master work. Because of the experimental combination of brick, glass and steel this building was considered as an example of modern architecture.

The building was however demolished in 1965, in spite of an international protest movement of over 700 architects (Venice, 1964). It was dismantled entirely with the idea of rebuilding, whereupon the components started to travel along several areas around Brussels.

At the place of the Horta house now stands a small skyscraper, set up in 1966. This tower, the Blaton tower, is named after the building firm.

See also

• Victor Horta

Coordinates: 50°50′29″N 4°21′10″E / 50.84128°N 4.352675°E / 50.84128; 4.352675