Grand Place in Brussels: different buildings, common square

Useful to know

The Grand Place in Brussels is an ensemble of public and private buildings dating mainly from the end of the 17th century. UNESCO emphasizes its remarkable integrity and the connection with the social and cultural development of an important political and commercial center. This is a good starting point for architectural reading: the square has its own image, although its individual boundaries belong to different buildings. Unity here is not tantamount to a mechanical repetition of the same facade. [1]

Public and private presence are gathered in a common open space. [1] It is useful for the observer to consider the square as a volume, the walls of which are the building fronts. Then he can separate the individual accents. Thus, two different levels are visible: the general shape of the place and the own representation of each building. If we start only from the richest detail, we easily miss the frame that allows this detail to be perceived as part of an ensemble.

For our own exercise, we can imagine the facades without decoration and note the heights, widths and main openings. Then we return the decorative layer. What changes in the overall impression? This is not an attempt to deny the importance of ornament. It helps to understand that the composition works on more than one level. The geometry of the square and the artistic representation of the individual parts can be viewed separately and then re-connected.

UNESCO's historical description places the main ensemble within a certain time frame. [1] This is not a reason to declare every detail to be simultaneous or unchanged. In a specific building issue, a separate historical study is needed. General architectural text can use the frame without extending it beyond the source. Thus, the reader gets a clear idea of the ensemble and simultaneously understands that the history of its parts can be more complex than the short general description.

The spot of observation also changes the reading. From the center, the great boundaries of the square are compared. Depth, entrances and transitions to adjacent spaces are visible from the periphery. In a narrow shot, a building looks almost self-contained, while a wide shot shows its dependence on the rest. This is a useful lesson for any description of an urban ensemble: the image frame can greatly change the question we ask to architecture.

Grand Place shows how the common urban image can arise from the joint presence of different buildings. The historical context explains the importance of the commercial and political center, and the spatial reading reveals how this presence becomes visible. When we distinguish a square, a facade order and a detail, we get a more accurate description. It allows us to evaluate both general integrity and individual decisions without turning either into a single explanation for the power of the place.