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Lessons in modern living: home design exhibitions in Belgium 1945–1958

2004; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 9; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/1360236042000320314

1466-4410

Fredie Floré,

Urban Planning and Landscape Design

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Notes The author especially thanks Mil De Kooning and Dirk Pültau for their feedback on the paper. See, e.g., R. Schoonbrodt, Sociologie de l'habitat social. Comportement des habitants et architecture des cités (Brussels, A.A.M. Editions, 1979); L. Goossens, Het sociaal huisvestingsbeleid in België. Een historisch-sociologische analyse van de maatschappelijke probleembehandeling op het gebied van het wonen (unpublished PhD thesis) (Leuven, Faculteit der Sociale Wetenschappen, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, 1982); Sociaal Woonbeleid (Brussels, Koning Boudewijnstichting, 1983); P. De Decker, E. Van Mele, M. Demalsche (eds.), Huiszoeking. Een kijkboek sociale woningbouw aangeboden door Leo Peeters (Brussels, Ministerie van de Vlaamse Gemeenschap, 1999). See, e.g., F. Defour, Belgische meubelkunst in de XXe eeuw. Van Horta tot heden (Tielt, Lannoo, 1979); J. Vanderperren, L. Daenens (preface), 25 jaar Pieter De Bruyne – meubels (Ghent, Stad Gent/Museum voor Sierkunst, 1980); G. Bekaert, H. Claus, L. Daenens, F. Defour, J. De Geest, M. Galle, P. Restany, M. Yonekura, H. Balthazar (preface), Emiel Veranneman. 50 jaar meubelcreaties (Brussels, Gemeentekrediet, 1994); G. Bekaert, A. Branzi, F. Burkhardt, L. Daenens, Ch. Kieckens, M. C. Smout-Baeyens, Design Made in Belgium 1900–1994 (Kortrijk, Stichting Interieur, 1994); M. De Kooning, Willy Van Der Meeren. Architectuur Stedebouw Design Research Onderwijs (unpublished PhD thesis) (Ghent, Faculteit Toegepaste Wetenschappen, Universiteit Gent, 1997); Louis Herman De Koninck. Architecte des années modernes (Brussels, A.A.M. Editions, 1998); M. E. Bucquoye, L. Daenens, M. De Kooning, M. Dubois, F. Floré, Ch. Kieckens, E. Pil, N. Poulain, Forms From Flanders: From Henry van de Velde to Maarten Van Severen, 1900–2000 (Ghent/Amsterdam, Ludion, 2001); M. Ferran-Wabbes, Jules Wabbes 1919–1974: binnenhuisarchitect (Brussels, La Renaissance du Livre/Dexia, 2002). See, e.g., De Stoute Jaren ′58–′68 (Leuven, Kritak, 1988); De fifties in België (Brussels, A.S.L.K., 1988); R. Gobyn, W. Spriet (eds.), De jaren '30 in België. De massa in verleiding (Brussels, Ludion/A.S.L.K., 1994). Several Flemish universities are currently doing research on the history of twentieth century home culture in Belgium. Since 1999 the Department of Architecture and Urban Planning, Ghent University, has been studying design production and ‘home education’ in Belgium after World War II, under the supervision of Mil De Kooning. In 2003 the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven started a research project on ‘the social translation of architectural views on housing in Flanders 1920–1970’, supervised by Leen Van Molle, Hilde Heynen, Veerle Draulans and Patrick Pasture. This PhD research is being carried out by the author at the Department of Architecture and Urban Planning, Ghent University, under the supervision of Mil De Kooning. The preliminary title of this study is ‘Modernity at home? An architectural history study of the mediation of models for “modern” domestic living in Belgium 1945–1958’. Martine Segalen describes the origin of an international home educational movement in the interwar period as being a result of the development of modern consumer society and especially of the growing distance between the producer and the consumer. See M. Segalen, ‘The Salon des Arts Ménagers, 1923–1983: A French Effort to Instil the Virtues of Home and the Norms of Good Taste’, Journal of Design History, 4 (1994), pp. 267–275. As Belgium is a bilingual state, many (national) organisations and exhibitions have a French and a Flemish name or title. Formes Nouvelles, for example, is also called Nieuwe Vormen. For the convenience of the reader, the author only uses the French names of bilingual organisations and exhibitions in the text. The Flemish synonyms are mentioned in the endnotes. The Flemish synonym of the Institut National de la Promotion de l'Habitation is Nationaal Instituut tot Bevordering van de Huisvesting. The Kristelijke Arbeidersvrouwengilden and the Katholieke Werkliedenbonden were Flemish educational branches of the nationally organised Christelijke Arbeidersbeweging (Christian Workers' Movement), then the largest workers' movement in the country. In 1945 they respectively had 155,482 and 28,067 members. The Vlaamse Boerinnenbond was the Flemish womens' organisation of the Belgische Boerenbond (the Belgian Farmers' Union). In 1945 they had about 88,000 members. At the time the Socialistische Vooruitziende Vrouwen or Femmes Prévoyantes Socialistes, was the most important Socialist womens' organisation in Belgium. It was nationally organised but had separate activities for Flemish and Walloon women. In 1949 it had about 240,000 members (Flemish and Walloon socialist women). By comparison, in 1949 the Flemish Kristelijke Arbeidersvrouwengilden had 200,841 members. As the home-educational efforts of the Socialistische Vooruitziende Vrouwen generally aimed at its Flemish members, the Flemish name of the organisation is used in the text. In the 1940s and 1950s there was still a kind of ‘affinity’ between the visual arts and the artistic crafts. Several artists applied a kind of traditional craft in their work and some of them even specialised in an artistic craft alongside their visual production. For example, in the 1950s Marc Mendelsohn and Octave Landuyt both designed textile patterns. See, e.g., F. Floré, ‘Octave Landuyt en de Belgische functionele textiel van de fifties’, Kwintessens, 3 (2000), pp. 42–43. For example, ‘model homes’ were a common feature at world exhibitions. For a discussion of ‘taste’ as a nineteenth-century bourgeois category, see, e.g., Y. Schoonjans, ‘Intérieur d'un employé aux magasins du Louvre Rue St Jacques. Een negentiende-eeuws burgerlijk interieur’, Dietsche Warande & Belfort, 1 (1997), pp. 5–23. Several exhibition types mentioned in this text correspond with those discussed in B. Colomina, ‘The Media House’, Assemblage, 27 (1995), pp. 55–66 or B. Colomina, ‘The Exhibitionist House’, in R. Ferguson (ed.), At the end of the century. One hundred years of architecture (Los Angeles, The Museum of Contemporary Art, 1998), pp. 126–165. In these texts Colomina comments on the media through which the home as an architectural project was reconsidered in the twentieth century. The Flemish synonyms of Société Nationale des Habitations et Logements à Bon Marché and Société Nationale de la Petite Propriété Terrienne are respectively Nationale Maatschappij voor Goedkope Woningen en Woonvertrekken and Nationale Maatschappij voor de Kleine Landeigendom. The information on the location and the dates of the exhibitions of the INPH is restricted as only fragments of the Institute's archive were saved. For her research the author mainly relied on the Institute's Journal, L'Habitation. The De Taeye Act was passed on 29 May 1948, having been proposed by the CVP, the Catholic party in government. The Brunfaut Act dates from 15 April 1949 and was the counterproposal by the BSP, the Socialist party. See, e.g., L. Goossens, Het sociaal huisvestingsbeleid in België. Een historisch-sociologische analyse van de maatschappelijke probleembehandeling op het gebied van het wonen (unpublished PhD thesis) (Leuven, Faculteit der Sociale Wetenschappen, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, 1982). See, e.g., B. De Meulder, P. De Decker, K. Van Herck, M. Ryckewaert, H. Vansteelant, ‘Over de plaats van volkswoningbouw in de Vlaamse ruimte’, in P. De Decker, E. Van Mele, M. Demalsche (eds.), Huiszoeking. Een kijkboek sociale woningbouw aangeboden door Leo Peeters (Brussels, Ministerie van de Vlaamse Gemeenschap, 1999), pp. 10–86. The exhibition also had a Flemish title: Het Nieuwe Wonen. The Kristelijke Arbeidersvrouwengilden and the Katholieke Werkliedenbonden based their actions on ‘Christian personalism’ as defined by the contemporary social doctrine of the Church. They believed that each human individual had a personal and divine destiny, which he or she could only approach by developing themselves on a material and mental level. According to Christian personalism a human could only truly develop itself within the context of several communities of which the most important ones were family, work, people, nation and church. See E. Gerard (ed.), De Christelijke Arbeidersbeweging in België. Deel 1, in the series KADOC-studies, 11, (Leuven, Universitaire Pers Leuven, 1991), pp. 269–271. ‘Nieuwe vormen’, Kunstambachten en Kunstnijverheden, 5 (1950), unpaged. At the time Jul De Roover was the most important Flemish home advisor to the Socialistische Vooruitziende Vrouwen or Femmes Prévoyantes Socialistes. For a discussion of the furniture designs of Jos De Mey, see, e.g., F. Floré, ‘Het getemperd modernisme van Jos De Mey (1928)’, in M. De Kooning, F. Floré, I. Strauven (eds), Alfred Hendrickx en het fifties meubel in België (Ghent/Mechelen, Vakgroep Architectuur en Stedenbouw, Universiteit Gent/Stedelijke Musea Mechelen, 2000), pp. 105–112. In September 1952 the Salon de l'Enfance et de la Famille (The Childhood and Family Show) took place in the Brussels Palace of Fine Arts. This show was an initiative of the Ministry of Health and the Family and contained a presentation by Formes Nouvelles. See, e.g., L.-L. Sosset, ‘Le Foyer d'Aujourd'hui au Salon de l'Enfance’, Architecture, 5 (1952), pp. 157–160. In 1953 the next edition of the Salon de l'Enfance et de la Famille also took place in the Palace of Fine Arts. This time a model home of the Société Belge des Urbanistes et Architectes Modernistes (Belgian Society of Modernist Urban Developers and Architects) was on display. See, e.g., ‘Entre le rêve et la réalité. La maison modèle de la S.B.U.A.M.’, Les Beaux-Arts, 619 (1953), p. 13. The catalogue of the second salon mentions that the jury consisted of ‘members with no financial or other interest in the salon’ and that the competitors were selected ‘exclusively according to artistic and technical criteria’. However it is not clear who the jury members were. See J. De Mey, ‘Modern sociaal meubel in België’, Bouwen en Wonen, 3 (1956), pp. 108–114. See ‘Korte inhoud van de rede van Dhr. A. Van De Walle’, Kunstambachten en Kunstnijverheden, 62 (1955), pp. 3–4. The ‘Good Design Shows’ took place between 1950 and 1955 and were the result of a collaboration between the New York Museum of Modern Art and the Chicago Merchandise Mart. The exhibition objects were selected by the museum and were displayed in the museum as well as in the Mart, albeit in different periods. The trading of objects remained outside the museum. See M. A. Staniszewski, The Power of Display. A History of Exhibition Installations at the Museum of Modern Art (Cambridge Mass./London, MIT Press, 1998). See the regulations for entering the Salons voor Modern Sociaal Meubel (archive of the Department of Architecture and Urban Planning, Ghent University, Gent). J. De Mey, ‘Modern sociaal meubel in België’, Bouwen en Wonen, 3 (1956), pp. 108–114. K. Elno, ‘Kaleidoscoop Zuid. Modern sociaal meubel?’, Scheppend Ambacht, 2 (1957), pp. 39–41. See S. De Caigny, ‘Wij bouwen een nieuwe thuis! De gelaagde betekenis van huiselijkheid bij de christelijke arbeidersvrouwen in het interbellum’ (unpublished paper, Leuven, 2003). The presentation of this ‘ideal home’ consisted of a small-scale model and drawings. See ‘L'Exposition itinérante De Thuis à Anvers, Gand, Bruges, Hasselt et Alost’, La Maison, 3 (1950), pp. 88–90. In 1951 the Vlaamse Boerinnenbond published the book Arbeidsbesparing (Labour Saving), a kind of catechism for household work. During the same year a series of articles on ‘labour saving in the arrangement of the home’ was published in the members' magazine Bij de Haard. The Flemish synonym of Le Foyer d'Aujourd'hui was De Hedendaagse Haardstede. The Flemish synonym of Institut National du Logement et de l'Habitation is Nationaal Instituut voor Woning en Huisvesting. The Flemish title of the Exposition Internationale du Logement was Internationale Tentoonstelling van Woningen. The Flemish title of the 1er Salon National de l'Habitation, du Confort, de l'Equipement et de l'Aménagement Intérieur was 1ste Nationaal Salon van de Huisvesting en Woninginrichting. The Flemish titles of the Exposition Nationale de l'Artisanat et des Métiers d'Art and the Exposition de l'Habitation Moderne were respectively Nationale Tentoonstelling der Ambachten en Kunstbedrijven and Tentoonstelling van de Moderne Woning. F. Floré and M. De Kooning, ‘The representation of modern domesticity in the Belgian Section of the Brussels World's Fair of 1958’, Journal of Design History, 16/4 (2003), pp. 319–340. The Flemish synonym of Institut National du Logement was Nationaal Instituut voor Huisvesting.