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Flagey Building

Coordinates:50°49′36″N4°22′22″E/ 50.82667°N 4.37278°E/50.82667; 4.37278
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Flagey Building
The Flagey Building on thePlace Eugène Flagey/Eugène Flageyplein,housing Le Flagey cultural centre
Map
General information
Architectural style
AddressPlace Eugène Flagey / Eugène Flageyplein
Town or cityB-1050Ixelles,Brussels-Capital Region
CountryBelgium
Coordinates50°49′36″N4°22′22″E/ 50.82667°N 4.37278°E/50.82667; 4.37278

TheFlagey Building(French:Bâtiment Flagey,Dutch:Flageygebouw) also known as theRadio House(French:Maison de la Radio,Dutch:Radiohuis) is a building located inIxelles,a municipality ofBrussels,Belgium, housing theFlageycultural centre.It is located on the south-western corner ofPlace Eugène Flagey/Eugène Flageyplein,with its main entrance on thePlace Sainte-Croix/Heilig-Kruisplein.

The building, parts of which arelisted,was designed by the architectJoseph Diongre[fr]and completed in 1938 inStreamline Moderne,an international style ofArt Deco.It owes its name toEugène Flagey[fr],a Belgian lawyer and politician who was mayor of Ixelles from 1935 to 1953. It served as the former headquarters of theBelgian National Institute of Radio Broadcasting(INR/NIR). When the broadcaster left in 1974, the building was refurbished as a cultural community centre.

History

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The Flagey Building, designed by Joseph Diongre after winning a competition launched in 1933,[1]was opened in 1938.[2]The competition was launched to create a building to house the firstnational broadcasterin Belgium, the National Institute of Radio Broadcasting (French:Institut National de Radiodiffusionor INR, Dutch:Nationaal Instituut voor de Radio-omroepor NIR) (1930–1960).[2]Henry van de VeldeandVictor Hortawere on the jury that awarded the prize to Diongre.[3]

The INR/NIR building on the Place Eugène Flagey in the 1980s

The building owes its name to Eugène Flagey, a Belgian lawyer and politician[4]who served as mayor of Ixelles from 1935 to 1953.[5]It is designed inStreamline Moderne,an international style of Art Deco, also known asstyle paquebot( "ocean liner style" ) in France.[6]Owing to its shape somewhat resembling a ship, the building is nicknamed "Packet Boat"[3]or "paquebot".[7]The interiors included muchwood panellingand thin tube lamps, typical of the style.[8]

The building garnered critical acclaim as soon as it was finished, and the qualities of the studios attracted renowned classical, contemporary and jazz musicians to perform there (includingChuck Berry,Jerry Lee LewisandChet Baker[2]), for live concerts and recordings.[9]

The INR/NIR was later split into separate broadcasting entities, one for each language,[9]the Dutch-languageVRTand the French-speakingRTBF,before they moved out of the building completely in 1974 (after growing out of it[6]) and leased it to various other cultural bodies until the late 1990s.[1]During this time, it was poorly maintained.[7]In 1997, a working group convened to create afeasibility studyfor a complete renovation of the building.[1]

Established as a public limited company (société anonyme), the consortium Maison de la Radio Flagey (NV Omroepgebouw Flagey[7]) purchased the building from the VRT and RTBF[8]on 30 June 1998, with 30 companies working towards saving the building. The building was extensively renovated by architects including Storme Van Ranst,[3]and was reopened in 2002.[1][10]

Description

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Entrance on thePlace Sainte-Croix/Heilig-Kruisplein

The building occupies a large site in the south-western corner of the square, with its main entrance on the Place Sainte-Croix. A number oftramsand buses provide transport to the location.[11][12]

As anon-profit organisationLe Flagey has the following aims:

  • to create a cultural pole in Brussels, open to diverse musical styles, offering a large part to the image of different artistic disciplines;
  • to create an architectural and real-estate pole by safeguarding and reallocating the former building of the RTBF;
  • to create a pole at the social level by demonstrating a joint action by representatives of the country's different communities with a view to creating a cultural institution of excellence with a European vocation. It also located in between the upmarketIxelles Pondsand the world of immigrant cultures.

The central portion of the building is dedicated to cultural activities, with fiverecording studiosthat are flexible in size and function. Part of the building is listed as aprotected monumentby the Monuments and Sites Directorate of the Brussels-Capital Region.[1]

The institution was led by directorHugo De Greef[fr]from 2007[13]until 2011, and since then, byGilles Ledure[nl].[14]

Recording studios

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Studio 4, showing the organ

The original design incorporated twelverecording studios,which were built in two acoustic towers forming the core of the building.[8]The 2002 renovation restored the Flagey Building's original functions by creating a musical space with recording studios and concerts venues, allowing it to host an eclectic programme of events.

Its Studio 4 is one of the concert halls with the best acoustics worldwide,[15]home to theBrussels Philharmonic.[16][6]The whole back wall is occupied by anorgan,specially designed for this space and built by theTournaiorgan-builder Maurice Delmotte.[8]Studio 4 is also used as a recording studio. The award-winningsoundtrack, released in 2005forMartin Scorsese's 2004 filmThe Aviator,was recorded there, as well as themusical scoreof the award-winning movieThe Artistin 2011.[6]

Events

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Cinema

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The centre has a room permanently dedicated to cinema. It screens films programmed byCINEMATEK(French:Cinémathèque royale de Belgique,Dutch:Koninklijk Belgisch Filmarchief), usually classic films or recent curiosities that have not been distributed in the commercial network. Exceptional screenings are sometimes organised in the prestigiousconcert hall,the largest in Brussels, where a huge screen is installed for the event. In 2003,PlaytimebyJacques Tatiwas screened there in its original version in70 mm,for the first time in Belgium.[citation needed]

TheBrussels Short Film Festival(BSFF) uses Flagey as one of its locations for screenings and other events.[17]The festival then named theBrussels European Film Festival,later the Brussels Film Festival (BRFF), took place in April, and a series known as Spanish and Latin American Cinema took place in November, as of 2012.[9]The first edition of theBrussels International Film Festival(BRIFF) took place in the building in 2018.[18]

Music

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Aside from being home to the Brussels Philharmonic,[16][6]the centre hostsFlagey Piano Days(featuring US pianistStephen Kovacevichin 2017[7]), and theBrussels Jazz Festivalhas taken place there[19]since 2015. Flagey is also home to other jazz events, such as the Brussels Jazz Marathon and the Brussels Jazz Platform.[2]

See also

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References

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  1. ^abcde"The Flagey Building".Flagey.Retrieved8 May2021.
  2. ^abcd"Flagey".jazz.brussels.Archived fromthe originalon 9 May 2021.Retrieved9 May2021.
  3. ^abc"New course for packet boat".SVR-Architects.14 July 2002. Archived fromthe originalon 8 January 2022.Retrieved9 May2021.
  4. ^"Flagey".venues.be.Retrieved22 February2020.
  5. ^"Bourgmestres ixellois".Ixelles Elsene.Retrieved9 May2021.
  6. ^abcde"Le Flagey - Découvrez Bruxelles en musique".Bruxelles ma Belle(in French). 16 November 2015.Retrieved9 May2021.
  7. ^abcd"Februari 2017: Flagey architectuurwandeling en pianoconcert".Antwerpencultuurstad(in Dutch). 17 February 2017.Retrieved9 May2021.
  8. ^abcd"Voormalig Nationaal Instituut voor Radio-Omroep (NIR)".Brussels heritage.Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest: Inventaris van het bouwkundig erfgoed (in Dutch). 28 April 1994.Retrieved10 May2021.
  9. ^abc"Le Flagey, the former Maison de la Radio".Brusselslife.be.5 July 2012.Retrieved9 May2021.
  10. ^"Flagey N.V."SVR-Architects.17 October 2002.Retrieved9 May2021.
  11. ^"Eglise Sainte-Croix".Google Maps.Retrieved9 May2021.
  12. ^"About us".Flagey.Retrieved9 May2021.Place Sainte-Croix, 1050 Brussels (Belgium). Tram, Bus: 81, 38, 59, 60, 71, N09, N10
  13. ^"Nomination de Hugo De Greef comme directeur général de Flagey".La Libre Belgique(in French). 14 March 2007.Retrieved22 February2020.
  14. ^Binst, Jean-Marie (19 May 2011)."Gilles Ledure:" Flagey is een sterk merk "".bruzz.be(in Dutch).Retrieved22 February2020.
  15. ^"Flagey Flies Again After Audio Treatment".Lighting&Sound International. January 2003. Archived fromthe originalon 13 December 2013.Retrieved10 December2013.
  16. ^ab"Brussels Philharmonic".Brussels Philharmonic.Retrieved22 February2020.
  17. ^"Locations".Brussels Short Film Festival.Retrieved9 May2021.
  18. ^"Brussels International Film Festival 2018".Flagey.Retrieved9 May2021.
  19. ^"Flagey".Visit Brussels.Retrieved9 May2021.
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