In Belgium, eclectic architecture dominates the architectural landscape of the nineteenth century, shared with neoclassical architecture, until the appearance of Art Nouveau in 1893, with the construction of the Hotel Tassel by Victor Horta.

Dominated by the figures of Jean-Pierre Cluysenaar, Joseph Poelaert and Henri Beyaert, the style presents multiple variants such as eclecticism itself (a style that juxtaposes without rules elements drawn from the entire historical architectural repertoire), the eclecticism tinged with neo-classicism, the neo-Renaissance Italian and French styles, neoroman, neo-Gothic, neo-Renaissance Flemish, neo-baroque, neo-Tudor, neo-Moorish style, and more. eclecticism tinged with Art Nouveau.

History
The history of eclectic architecture in Belgium is divided into two major periods corresponding to the reigns of Leopold I (1830-1865) and Leopold II (1865-1909).

From 1905, the eclecticism in Belgium mutates and takes the name of style Beaux-Arts. This period runs from 1905 to 1930 and therefore corresponds more or less to the reign of Albert I (1909-1934): it is described in the article Style Beaux-Arts in Belgium.

Reign of Leopold I (1830-1865)
Building the symbols of the new nation
With the Belgian revolution of 1830, Brussels became the capital of a new kingdom and the center of a young nation. Brussels becomes the symbol of the success of the young state and intends to ensure its vocation of capital of a young and ambitious state.

The function of capital of the kingdom and seat of the main institutions involves modernization and beautification to enable the city to assume its role worthily.

Another factor explaining the rise of architecture under Leopold I is the great prosperity brought about by the victory of free trade, thanks to which Belgium appears in the mid- nineteenth century as the most industrialized country in the world after England.

Stylistic orientations
Slightly attached to the neo-classicism imported by the Austrian regime in the eighteenth century, Belgian architecture emancipated under Leopold I and turned to a range of styles:

the neo-Renaissance Italian style, with Jean-Pierre Cluysenaar (Royal Galleries Saint-Hubert, former market covered Madeleine);
the French neo-Renaissance style, still with Cluysenaar (Château d’Argenteuil, Royal Conservatory of Brussels);
pure eclecticism, with Joseph Poelaert (Column of Congress, Courthouse of Brussels);
the neo-Romanesque style, with Louis van Overstraeten (Royal Church of St. Mary);
a first phase of neogothic style born of a romantic interest for the Middle Ages 12, with a series of churches built by Joseph Jonas Dumont, not to mention the church of Our Lady of Laeken Poelaert and the Holy Church -Catherine of Brussels (mixture of Gothic elements and French Renaissance) ;
the neo-Tudor style, with a series of prisons made by Joseph Jonas Dumont, which brings this style back to a trip to England in 1846.

Innovation
If the era is characterized by an imitation of the styles of the past, innovation is nonetheless present。

On the one hand, the desire to improve hygiene and traffic in the busy streets by eliminating innumerable small outdoor markets leads Cluysenaar to innovate by creating covered public buildings, such as covered markets (former covered market of the Madeleine) and the shopping arcades or walkways (Royal Galleries Saint-Hubert).

On the other, new techniques born of industrial progress appear: iron and glass upset architectural practices. Cluysenaar and Hansotte adopt these new construction techniques and apply them respectively to the Royal Galleries Saint-Hubert and the Halles de Schaerbeek.

Reign of Leopold II (1865-1909)
Vault of the Senne and creation of the boulevards of the Center
The Senne, which crosses Brussels describing many meanders, has always been a problem by its periodic floods but the situation deteriorates strongly in the eighteenth century because of pollution.

Described, in the eighteenth century again, as a river with a “useful and pleasant course” 15, the Senne is no longer, in the following century, a “dumping ground, not only of the industries grouped on its banks, but of all the riverside houses “.

In 1865, King Leopold II, addressing the young Mayor of Brussels Jules Anspach, expressed the wish that Brussels “will succeed in getting rid of this cesspool called the Seine” before the end of his reign.

In October 1865, the municipal council of the city of Brussels adopts a project established by the architect Léon Suys which aims to remove the side arms of the river, to rectify the winding course of his main arm and to vault it between the train station. Midday and the north of the city.

The goal of this huge Senne vaulting project (1867-1871) is not only to clean up the center of the city but also to promote traffic by developing a new commercial and North-South circulation axis.

Thus appear the boulevards of the center (initially named Boulevard du Hainaut, Central, North and Senne and later renamed boulevard Lemonnier, Anspach, Max and Jacqmain). In order to stimulate reconstruction along these boulevards, the City of Brussels is organizing two architectural competitions for the periods 1872-1876 and 1876-1878. But we can not speak of Haussmannization because the City refuses to impose on architects constraints similar to those which give their unity to the Parisian boulevards: no unity of style is sought nor imposed and the monumental composition will be eclectic de facto throughout this huge perspective.

Population growth
In addition, Brussels is facing a huge demographic expansion in the nineteenth century: its area more than doubles between 1830 and 1913.

The city extends eastward, with the creation of the “Leopold district” which attracts a bourgeoisie looking for airy neighborhood, but also with the route of the Rue du Trône, rue de la Loi and Avenue Louise.

Like the downtown boulevards, these new neighborhoods will of course give pride of place to eclectic architecture.

In search of a national style
If the neo-Renaissance Italian and neo-Renaissance French styles marked the reign of Leopold I, everything changes from 1870.

The Belgian bourgeoisie draws from the French defeat of Sedan and the collapse of the Second Empire a national pride that finds its architectural expression in the Flemish neo-Renaissance style 5 : the Flemish Renaissance, considered as the golden age of Netherlands, then appears as the most appropriate source of inspiration.

The Flemish neo-Renaissance style, born of this aspiration to a “national” architecture, developed in the last quarter of the 19th century

Stylistic orientations under Leopold II
The range of architectural styles under Leopold II, however, is not limited to the neo-Flemish Renaissance style. The mixture of genres continues to dominate the architectural landscape:

pure eclectism, which continues with Léon Suys (Brussels Stock Exchange, Halles Centrales), Henri Rieck (Passage du Nord), Alban Chambon (Hôtel Métropole), etc.
the Flemish neo-Renaissance style (Flemish Royal Theater, Halles Saint-Géry, Jette and Schaerbeek train stations, Anderlecht and Schaerbeek communal houses…);
a second phase of the neo-gothic style, mainly applied to the construction of Catholic schools (Hubert Marcq’s Institut Saint-Stanislas, Edmond Serneels ‘ Institut Sainte-Geneviève);
the Moorish style (Hôtel Terrasse by Henri Rieck and Théâtre de la Bourse of Alban Chambon, missing buildings);
eclecticism tinged with Art Nouveau
neo-classicism tinged with eclecticism

Eclectic Style Architects
Here is the list of Belgian eclectic architects, chronologically classified according to the beginning of their eclectic production, with their most outstanding achievements.

We refer to the detailed articles for more sources and references.

Reign of Leopold I (1830-1865)
1840 Jean-Pierre Cluysenaar
1840 Semi-detached dwellings rue Royale No. 79-81 (Italian neo-Renaissance)
1841 Kiosque of the park of Brussels (eclecticism)
1847 Saint-Hubert Royal Galleries (Italian neo-Renaissance)
1848 Old Madeleine covered market, rue Duquesnoy (Italian neo-Renaissance, inspired by the Loggia dei Lanzi in Florence)
1858 Château d’Argenteuil (neo-French Renaissance)
1872-1876 Royal Conservatory of Brussels (French neo-Renaissance)
1874 Alhambra Theater, boulevard Émile Jacqmain in Brussels (neo-Renaissance, with sculptor Charles Van der Stappen, demolished in 1974)
1841 François Coppens
1841-1846 Former Gare du Nord of Brussels (neo-Renaissance)
1844 Joseph Jonas Dumont
1844-1849 Neo-Gothic churches of Malle in Limburg (1844-1845), of Saint-Pierre in Wanfercée-Baulet (1844-1848), of Saint-Boniface in Ixelles (1846-1849) and Bouillon
1850-1851 neo-Tudor style prisons: Verviers (1850), Leuven (1851), Dinant (1851), Charleroi (1851), Saint-Gilles (designed by JJ Dumont but realized, from 1878 to 1884, by the architect François Derre)
1845 Louis van Overstraeten
1845-1849 Royal Church of St. Mary (Neo -Roman)
1849 Gustave Hansotte
1849-1853 completion of the Royal Church of St. Mary (Neoroman)
1865 Halles de Schaerbeek (eclecticism)
1850 Joseph Poelaert
1850-1859 Column of Congress (eclecticism)
1850 Two palaces located Congress Square (neo-Renaissance Italian)
1852-1865 Church of Our Lady of Laeken (Gothic Revival)
1854-1874 St. Catherine’s Church of Brussels (mixture of Gothic elements and French Renaissance) 30, 31
1862-1879 Courthouse of Brussels (eclecticism)
1855 Gustave Saintenoy
1855 Brussels-Luxembourg Station (eclecticism)
1856 Alphonse Balat
1856-1858 Hotel of the Marquis d’Assche, Brussels (neo-Renaissance Italian)

Reign of Leopold II (1865-1909)
1858 Alphonse Balat
1866-1874 Expansion of the Royal Palace, Brussels
1873-1890 Royal Greenhouses of Laeken
1875-1880 Former Palace of Fine Arts in Brussels, rue de la Regence (now Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, neo-Renaissance Italian)
1860 Henri Beyaert
1860-1878 Hotel of the National Bank of Belgium, rue du Bois Sauvage in Brussels (with Wynand Janssens)
1867 Cité Fontainas (with Antoine Trappeniers)
1873 Noble Concert (eclecticism)
1873-1875 House of Cats (neo-Flemish Renaissance)
1876-1879 Hotel of the National Bank of Belgium in Antwerp (neo-French Renaissance)
1879-1899 Development of Petit Sablon Square (Flemish neo-Renaissance)
1883-1886 Palais de la Nation : rebuilding the House after a fire
1888-1893 Former headquarters of the Caisse Générale d’Epargne et Retraite (eclecticism)
1890-1894 Ministry of Railways, Post, Telegraph and Navy, rue de Louvain in Brussels
Léon Suys
1865 Global project of vaulting of the Senne and creation of the boulevards of the center of Brussels
1872-1874 Brussels Stock Exchange (eclecticism)
1872-1874 Brussels Central Halls (eclecticism, with E. Le Graive)
1867 Antoine Trappeniers
1867 Cité Fontainas (with Henri Beyaert)
1872 Emile Janlet
1872 Café de la Bourse, Brussels
1878 Communal School No. 13, Place Anneessens, 11 in Brussels (today Lucien Cooremans Institute)
1897 Anspach Fountain, Place de Brouckère in Brussels (with the sculptors P. De Vigne, Julien Dillens, Godefroid Devreese, Pierre Braecke and Georges Houtstont, moved in 1981 to the Square des Blindés, at the end of the quays at Bricks and Bois à Brûler)
1872 Constant Almain of Hase
1872-1874: Presbyteral house of the Notre-Dame du Finistère church, boulevard Adolphe Max 55 in Brussels (neo-baroque)
1894: Church of the Franciscan convent, rue des Palais 181 in Schaerbeek (neogothic)
1873 Victor Jamaer
1873-1895 House of the King (neogothic)
1873 Eugene Carpentier
1873-1874 Continental Hotel
1875 Jules-Jacques Van Ysendyck
1875-1879 Anderlecht communal house (neo-Flemish Renaissance)
1884-1889 Schaerbeek Town Hall (neo-Flemish Renaissance)
1875 Henri Rieck
1880 Hotel Terrasse, on the corner of Boulevard Lemonnier and Boulevard du Midi in Brussels (Moorish style, disappeared)
1880 Rotunda of panoramas Castellani
1882 Northern Passage (eclecticism)
1875 Wynand Janssens
1875-1880 Palais du Midi, boulevard Maurice Lemonnier 132-172 in Brussels
1875 Adolphe Vanderheggen
1875 Building “Spring”
1881 Halles Saint-Géry (Flemish neo-Renaissance)
1875 Désiré De Keyser
1875 Café Sésino, boulevard Anspach in Brussels (eclectism, destroyed)
1878 Great Synagogue of Brussels, rue de la Regence 32 in Brussels (Romanesque-Byzantine style)
1880 Albert Dumont
1896 to 1904: City Hall of Saint-Gilles (with Auguste Hebbelynck)
1883 Jan Baes
1883-1887 Flemish Royal Theater (Flemish neo-Renaissance)
1889 House Baes (neo-Flemish Renaissance)
1885 Alban Chambon
1885 Théâtre de la Bourse, rue Orts 1 in Brussels (Moorish style, destroyed by a fire in 1890) 1893 Hotel Metropole, Brouckere Square in Brussels
1910-1918 Extension of the headquarters of the Caisse Générale d’Epargne et Retraite
1886 Franz Seulen
1886-1892 Station Jette (neo-Flemish Renaissance)
1887 Schaerbeek Station (neo-Flemish Renaissance)
1893 Ostend Station
1887 Adolphe Samyn
1887-1889 Alviella Goblet Mausoleum at Court-Saint-Étienne Cemetery (eclecticism)
1897 Baron Steens School, High Street 255 in Brussels
1906 Charles Buls School, rue de Rollebeek 22 in Brussels
1887 Henri Van Massenhove
1887-1906 Many houses of eclectic style
1889 Hubert Marcq
1889 Former Catholic Circle of Etterbeek, rue Doyen Boone 4-6 in Etterbeek (Flemish neo-Renaissance)
1894 Institute of the Sisters of the Child Jesus, rue Général Leman 74 in Etterbeek (eclecticism)
1895 Saint-Michel Clinic, rue Linthout 152-154 in Etterbeek (neo-Flemish Renaissance)
1900 “La Farandole” communal school, Chaussée Saint-Pierre 191-193 in Etterbeek (Flemish neo-Renaissance) 53
1901 Saint-Stanislas Institute, avenue des Nerviens 115 at Etterbeek (neogothic)
1894 Louis of the Censerie
1894-1905 Antwerp Central Station
1895 Joseph Prémont and Alphonse Gellé
1895 Group of six houses made for Chevalier Ferdinand de Wouters d’Oplinter, Marie-Louise square 74-79 in Brussels (neo-Renaissance inspired, Prémont and Gellé)
1902-1905 Saint-Michel College in Brussels, boulevard Saint-Michel in Etterbeek (neo-traditional style, Prémont and Gellé)
1908-1912 Saint-Jean-Berchmans Church, neo-Romanesque church of Saint-Michel College in Etterbeek (Prémont only)
1901 Guillaume Low
1901-1903 Numerous houses of eclectic style, among others at rue aux Laines
1902 Edmond Serneels
1902 Sainte-Geneviève Institute, avenue Eudore Pirmez, n °in Etterbeek (neogothic)
1905-1906 St. Anthony of Padua Church, St. Anthony Square in Etterbeek (Gothic Revival)
1906 Paul Bonduelle
1906-1907 Old Kaufmann chandelier, Locquenghien Street (eclectic style, with Charly Gilson)
1909-1910 Masonic Temple, rue de Laeken 79 (Neo-Egyptian style)
1908 Leon David

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