Het spektakel van het socialisme: naar een sociale en architecturale biografie van Europese volkshuizen

The spectacle of socialism. A social and architectural biography of European People’s HousesAt the turn of the century, numerous European cities witnessed the birth of a new type of building: the so-called ‘Maisons du Peuple’ or ‘People’s Houses’. These monumental buildings, often founded by the (socialist) labour movement, were meant to give ordinary people a place of their own within the urban space by means of impressive architecture. In order to grasp the remarkable individual life stories of the People’s Houses as well as their rich variety, this article proposes a multi-layered biographical approach. Four different phases in the biography of the People’s Houses each highlight another dimension of the building. The biographical framework is illustrated using the Brussels ‘Maison du Peuple (1899-1964) as an empirical case study.

Jaar van publicatie:2016