Housing for all

In order to overcome the shortage of housing created by the demographic expansion soon after the war, the developers have overly vast and overly dense blocks of social housing built, both in the city centre and on the outskirts.

As well as soulless buildings, examples of quality also come into being. In Evere, the humanist architect Willy Van Der Meeren designs an innovative complex for the Ieder Zijn Huis cooperative: a building on piles greatly influenced by Le Corbusier’s Unité d’Habitation in Marseille. A single gallery within it serves apartments spread over three levels, a device that is supposed to increase the chances of neighbours meeting. The architecture is furthermore punctuated with touches of bright colours as well as works of art.

At the foot of the housing unit that he designs for the Ieder Zijn Huis cooperative, Willy Van Der Meeren builds another revolutionary unit: small strips of housing for pensioners, established in surroundings planted with trees recalling those of garden cities.