Villa Maxime & Fernand Brunfaut
Address Nieuwelaan 152
City/Neighborhood Meise
Style(s)
- Modernism
- Rationalism
Original use
- Architect house
Année 1931 - 1936
Architect(s) and/or artist(s)
- Brunfaut Fernand
- Brunfaut Maxime
A magnificent modernist villa designed in 1931 by Maxime Brunfaut, and enlarged in 1936 by his father Fernand. The part designed by Maxime, in yellow bricks, was intended for his parents. The part on the right was added by Fernand in 1936 to house his offices. Although built in two phases, the villa appears as a single entity.
The Brunfauts' "socialist" values are somewhat flouted, Maxime called this villa a "manifesto of the perfect parvenu".
Maxime designed the interiors. The furniture is inspired by those he designed for the newspaper Vooruit in Ghent.
As with the stele of the newspaper Le Peuple in Brussels, he called on the sculptor Dolf Ledel for the bas-relief next to the entrance.
The building is designed entirely in horizontal lines interrupted by the imposing cube housing the stairwell. The “new” part reinforces the horizontal lines with its strip windows dear to the modernists. Fernand Brunfaut deliberately used a white earthenware facing to create a contrast with the original building.
A single rounded part softens the rigors of the whole with this semi-circular window under the awning next to the entrance.
Long abandoned, after Fernand Brunfaut returned to the city, it was completely restored down to the smallest details by the last owners.
Listed building since October 2008
MEI01 - Unless otherwise stated © www.admirable-artdeco.be for all photos