Take a walk around Brussels in the Horta way Have you ever passed through 224 Avenue Louise and were impressed by the beautiful facade and its steel balconies? Have you ever thought why the owners of the recognized bar Maison du Peuple choose that name? Maybe it is time to know Victor Horta, one of the most important and famous Belgian architects and the creator of the Art Nouveau movement. Born in a humble family, Horta had his first contact with architecture thanks to his uncle. However, his love for that profession did not appear until he was expelled from the Ghent Conservatory due to bad behaviour. A restless soul, after studying at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Ghent he decided to go Paris, where the Impressionist movement was beginning. This trend had a strong influence in Horta s entire work. The truth is that recognizing one of the many jewels that he created in Brussels, is an easy task: metal and steel bars with nature motifs twisted on themselves, imposing balconies with large windows and curve doors of fine wood. Although the best part of Horta s buildings can be found indoors, as he was not an ordinary architect: he also designed part of the interior and furniture of his houses. In fact, in his memories, he stated: I was not the first architect of my time to design furniture but I was the first to integrate it into my architecture. This is possibly the best way to describe his job, as we can see the union of the structural and decorative elements such as large floor draws which are then integrated into the columns; roof structures which end in big iron lamps or furniture with the same graphics as the roof. La Maison & Atelier Horta is a good example of his personal style where all elements are in perfect harmony from the structure of the house to the furniture, including the smallest details such as its lamps, designed by Horta for personal use. For all these reasons, Victor Horta was one of the favourite architects of his period. In fact, in 1927 Horta became the Director of the Académie Royale des Beaux Arts in Brussels. Moreover, in 1932, he was awarded the title of baron by Albert I of Belgium in recognition of his work. Not for nothing, he designed the Palais des Beaux Arts called BOZAR nowadays. In recent times, some of Horta s buildings have been reconverted into public spaces such as the Belgian Comic Strip Center, which was designed in 1906 to house department stores. It does not matter if you are not a fervent Hergé s fan as this amazing building is going to delight your eyes anyway.
Sadly, the fate of La Maison du Peuple was different. This building, once commissioned by the Belgian Workers Party (POB-BWP), was destroyed in 1965 and replaced by a skyscraper which provoked the indignation of more than 700 international architects. It could be that the owners of the current Maison du Peuple chose this name in his honour, for their famous bar located on the Parvis de Saint- Gilles. With the first rays of spring sunshine, this spot is one of the most crowded terraces in Brussels. On the other hand, Victor Horta also accepted requests from people and friends who wanted to have a work of art as their house. Thus, hidden in the corners of Brussels, we can find the Tassel House, Hôtel Solvay or Hôtel Van Eetvelde. Unfortunately, they are not available for the main public to visit. However, we recommend you to take a look at our interactive map of Victor Horta s buildings in Brussels, that you will surely enjoy. And, why not, to finish our nice walk along Art Nouveau in one of the main representative bars of this trend, as Le Perroquet, Le Falstaff or Taverne Greenwich.
Living and loving in BRUSSELS, THE CITY THAT SOUNDS LIKE JAZZ Many outsiders of Brussels say that it is a cold and boring city. The point is that it is a city we usually fall in love with once that we begin to live in. We discover it s magic corners, its bars, the beautiful terraces in summer and, most importantly, it s great live music sessions. This is the reason why today, we propose you a journey through the hidden Jamm Session that you can find in this dynamic city. If you are a passionate music lover who enjoy relaxed atmospheres and wooden pallets reconverted into comfortable armchairs, Bravo will be your favorite corner in the city. Away from crowded streets, it is the perfect place for your coffee time in the afternoon or some funky dancing at night. Nevertheless, Bravo is on our list to offer an interesting weekly agenda. Downstairs, we can discover intimist concerts, where public and musicians are very close, sharing the same space. The terrace is amazing. Passing by Place Saint-Géry you can wonder what is going on inside the Lava Café, which is usually crowded with people on Tuesday night. The answer is simple: Lava Café is an eminent place in the heart of Brussels since once per week it welcomes one of the more popular Jamm Sessions of the city. Don t be afraid of discovering its colourful walls! Another interesting plan for Jam Sessions in the very centre is Bonnefoi, especially on Sundays. 8 Rue des Pierres 1000 Bruxelles. It is also a shaky place for parties, making random encounters and getting lost in the night., Handky for drinks after concerts at sublime Ancienne Belgique. Another cultural agenda stop is Sounds Jazz Club, that is immersed in the district of Matonge, concretely in rue of the Tulipe, 28. Many Jazz lovers believe that they are in the middle of New Orleans when they arrive at this corner of Brussels. It might give them this impression since the flavors on the street coming from the African Restaurants Louisiana State style with a special weekly agenda of concerts. It is a great idea if you want to listen to some live music accompanied by a good wine and some Italian dishes. Small, cosy and atypical, thus Le Café Floréo defined itself. We won t say
atypical, we would rather say risky. In Le Café Floréo we can find live music starting from Progressive-Soul, Gypsy Jazz until arriving at the most classic Blues. And we love this bar for that reason! Every night is different, so drop you by Le Café Floréo (Rue des Riches Claires, 19) and enjoy the improvisation.
Färm an experiment food cooperative between nature and social. Try new ways to deal with your food We are living in a small but busy city: traffic, bustle, stress indeed, living in Brussels can be difficult sometimes! Nevertheless, we can find small, hidden places in the middle of the chaos which recall us to our roots and plant our feet back on the ground. And, yes, we are talking about roots and ground for one reason. Today we would like to bring you to Färm, a bio shop that it is much more than that: an innovative social concept that brings the idea of a rural cooperative to Brussels. Färm is a new way of going shopping, eating and exchanging. A great project achieved by two different means: a cooperative organic shop in town for the public, and a food cooperative which focuses on production and distribution as well as raising awareness towards sustainable and healthy products, explains Céline de Troostembergh, responsible for Communications. The idea of the company was born 6 years ago when Alexis Descampe and Baptiste Bataille, former biologist researchers at the University of Louvain-la-Neuve, quit their jobs and founded their first small organic food shop, then called The Peas, in the European quarter in Brussels. The shop was thriving tremendously, so they decided to open a second one, bigger (350 m²), and centrally located in the Sainte Catherine area. Nowadays, they invite people to join them, transforming Färm into a cooperative where members have the commitment to improve its concept day by day. The process is simple: first of all, if you want to become a member, you have to buy a share. In addition, all members, who are also its shareholders, have the duty to transmitting their knowledge in several ways, in order to build up a better shop; their own shop. For example, there are people who contribute giving cookery workshops to other
customers while other members taste new products for the magazine. This model allows Färm to get a direct feedback from its customers. In return, you are welcome to participate in several workshops and also you are invited to join them every outside event that they usually organise especially for their members. The social meaning of eat Färm s success is not based on the application of a new business model; their achievement is possible thanks to their passion for building stronger social relationships: Färm s mission is to change the relationship between humans and their food in order to change the relationship among humans themselves, says Célice. In short, it is also a project which generates social wealth around the entire neighborhood. On the other hand, Färm s team aims to vindicate the act of eating as a social act, a habit that has nearly been lost in our society, where our lunch is just a sandwich or where conversations have been replaced for the sound of a television. That is why they usually organise new events and workshops that are joined by members, neighbours and new customers in order to create a new community of common interest, people motivated by visions and beliefs. But, why does the Brussels community care about all of these things? Yes, we do feel that people in Brussels care because most of our clients ask questions about our products as well as advice. We see different people pushing the doors of our shops: mothers with small children, students, couples, tourists, single people confirms Céline. In fact this cooperative is, for many people, one of the greatest hidden gems in Brussels. This is why our last question is: what is the Färm team s favourite hidden place in the city? Céline has no doubt: Pipaillon. A small place near färm Sainte Catherine where you can have great coffee, lunch, drink organic lemonade and buy some homemade cannery food. We can only add: Bon Appetit!