Leuven

Leuven — from Martelarenplein to the Arenberg campus, Art Deco from 1922 to 1937

This walk crosses Leuven from the centre to Heverlee. It starts at the martyrs’ memorial on Martelarenplein (1923-1925), a hexagonal obelisk by A. De Bondt with sculpture by Marcel Wolfers, and René Notéris’s Vander Elst mansion (1922), both protected monuments, then passes Paul Stevens’s De Moor house (1926), within the protected Bondgenotenlaan townscape. Beyond the ring boulevards, Charles De Wys’s mirror-image houses (1924), E. Vanderheyden’s double house (1928) and Marcel Claes’s Delmot house (1932) lead to Heverlee, where F. Forton’s house on Kardinaal Mercierlaan (1937), three of the six Groenstraat houses designed in 1933 by Raymond Vankeerberghen, between Art Deco and modernism, and Paul Van Dormael’s house on Sint-Lambertusstraat (1934) follow one another. The walk ends at the Agronomy Institute on the Arenberg campus (1937), by Raymond Lemaire with Frans De Lange, a protected monument.

12 stops · Duration 3h15 · Distance 4 km

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1. Monument aux victimes de la Première Guerre mondiale de Louvain

   Achille De Bondt-Boelens & Marcel Wolfers · 1925

   The "martyrs' monument" in Leuven, erected from 1923 to 1925 to honour the civilians shot in August 1914, follows the design of the architect A.

2. Maison de maître Vander Elst

   René Notéris · 1922

   This town house was designed in 1922 by the Brussels architect René Notéris for Jean Vander Elst; the City of Leuven granted the building permit on 18 December 1922.

3. Maison De Moor, Bondgenotenlaan 106 — Louvain

   Paul Stevens · 1926

   Art Deco bel-étage house designed in 1926 by the newly qualified architect Paul Stevens (1902-1973) for the engineer De Moor; it is his first known work in Leuven.

4. Maisons Art déco, Weldadigheidsstraat 4-6 — Louvain

   Charles De Wys · 1924

   Two houses of two bays and three storeys, laid out as mirror images and built in 1924 in the Art Deco style to designs by the Brussels architect Charles De Wys.

5. Maison Art déco, Naamsevest 162

   Emiel Vanderheyden · 1928

   Art Deco double-fronted house designed in 1928 by E.

6. Maison bourgeoise Art déco Delmot — Louvain

   Marcel Claes · 1932

   Art Deco town house built in Heverlee to a 1932 design by architect Marcel Claes for the client Delmot.

7. Maison bourgeoise Art déco, Kardinaal Mercierlaan 23 — Louvain

   F. Forton · 1937

   Art Deco town house built following a 1937 building permit application by the architect F.

8. Maison Art déco, Groenstraat 5 — Louvain

   Raymond Vankeerberghen · 1933

   A single-family house designed in 1933 by the architect Raymond Vankeerberghen for Messrs Goemans and Stroobants, part of a group of six houses built at the same time at numbers 1

9. Maison bourgeoise Art déco, Groenstraat 7 — Louvain

   Raymond Vankeerberghen · 1933

   An Art Deco town house in Heverlee, part of an ensemble of six single-family houses (nos.

10. Maison Art déco, Groenstraat 9 — Louvain (Heverlee)

    Raymond Vankeerberghen · 1933

    This house is part of a group of six single-family dwellings (Groenstraat 1 to 11), designed in 1933 by the architect Raymond Vankeerberghen for Messrs Goemans and Stroobants, combining Art Deco and modernist influences.

11. Maison Art déco, Sint-Lambertusstraat 28 — Louvain (Heverlee)

    Paul Van Dormael · 1934

    Art Deco townhouse built in 1934 for C. de Raedt to a design by the architect Paul Van Dormael (building permit of 18 August 1934).

12. Institut d'agronomie (Landbouwinstituut), campus Arenberg

    Raymond Lemaire, avec Frans De Lange (ingénieur-architecte), d'après un plan de Clement Van Himbeeck (ingénieur) · 1937

    The Agricultural Institute was built in 1937 in the southern part of the Arenberg park for the University of Leuven.

Translated from the French original.