On Friday, 19 April, the Brussels Parliament approved by a large majority a draft ordinance aimed at regulating the opening of UNESCO World Heritage sites to the public, as reported by Belga news agency. Of particular interest was the opening of the Stoclet Palace to the public. The Stoclet Palace is considered one of the Art Nouveau gems in the city.
The draft ordinance was drawn up in the context of the dispute between the Stoclet family and the Secretary of State for Heritage, Ans Persoons, over public access to the Stoclet Palace. After unsuccessful attempts at conciliation, Persoons tabled the draft ordinance in the Parliament.
Until now, the iconic Stoclet Palace has remained closed to the public. The family who owns the property cites the fragility of the building and the risks of deterioration associated with opening it to the public. The ordinance aims to impose a limited and supervised opening of this type of building, not exceeding fifteen days per year, in the event of persistent failure to find a negotiated solution with the owners.
Last month, the Council of State expressed general support for the text. Ans Persoons insisted on her wish to meet with the Stoclet family, in a spirit of constructive collaboration. “I am indeed convinced that open dialogue and cooperation between stakeholders are essential to enhance and preserve the Stoclet Palace”, she said.
The Belgian banker Adolphe Stoclet commissioned the construction of house in 1905 from one of the leading architects of the Vienna Secession movement, Josef Hoffmann. The house and garden were completed in 1911 and their austere geometry marked a turning point in Art Nouveau. In a way, its style was already hinting at what would come later with the Art Deco and the Modern Movement in architecture. The Stoclet Palace is one of the most accomplished and homogenous buildings of the Vienna Secession.
The building remains one of the most consummate and emblematic realizations of the Art Nouveau movement. It characterizes the aesthetic research and renewal of architecture and decoration in the west at the start of the 20th century. The decoration was the work of a very large number of artists from the Wiener Werkstätte, including Koloman Moser, Gustav Klimt, Frantz Metzner, Richard Luksch and Michael Powolny. They worked under the guidance of Hoffmann to achieve a Gesamtkunstwerk (“total work of art”), which is expressed simultaneously in every dimension – interior and exterior architecture, decoration, furniture, functional objects and the gardens and their flower beds.
From its creation, the Stoclet Palace inspired many architects in Belgium and other countries. It bears witness to a monument of outstanding aesthetic quality and richness, intended as an ideal expression of the arts. A veritable icon of the birth of modernism and its quest for values, its state of preservation and conservation are remarkable.
