Avenue Franklin Roosevelt Explained


Map Type:	Belgium Brussels#Belgium
Location:	City of Brussels, Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium
Coordinates:	50.8064°N 4.3856°W
Construction Start Date:	1922

The French: Avenue Franklin Roosevelt|italic=no (French) or Dutch; Flemish: Franklin Rooseveltlaan|italic=no (Dutch) is an avenue in Brussels, Belgium. It is located in the southern part of the City of Brussels, near the border with the municipality of Ixelles, where it runs parallel to the Bois de la Cambre/Ter Kamerenbos. It is named in honour of the 32nd President of the United States, Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

The Avenue Franklin Roosevelt is known as one of the most beautiful avenues in Brussels.^[1] ^[2] ^[3] Many of the houses on the avenue date from the 1920s to the Second World War. It also houses many embassies and residences of ambassadors.

History

The avenue was laid out in 1922, according to the wishes of King Leopold II, through the site of the Brussels International Exposition of 1910. The construction of the avenue, the adjacent arteries and the first buildings mostly took place during the interwar period. Before 1945, it was called the French: Avenue des Nations|italic=no/Dutch; Flemish: Natiënlaan|italic=no ("Nations Avenue"). Its name was then changed to the French: Avenue Franklin Roosevelt|italic=no/Dutch; Flemish: Franklin Rooseveltlaan|italic=no in honour of the 32nd President of the United States, Franklin Delano Roosevelt.^[4]

In spite of Brussels' city planning free-for-all between the end of the Second World War and the late 1960s, the appearance of the Avenue Franklin Roosevelt has mostly remained unchanged over time; the vast majority of its buildings is indeed very well preserved, and some of them are now classified as historic monuments.

Notable buildings

The Avenue Franklin Roosevelt is home to many buildings in Art Nouveau, Art Deco, modernist and eclectic styles. The Solbosch campus of the Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB), a French-speaking university, with about 20,000 students, is also situated on the Avenue Franklin Roosevelt.

No. 52: Blomme House (1928), a modernist house designed by for his personal use (offices and apartments), whose entrance is flanked by two bas-reliefs by Ossip Zadkine.^[5]
No. 65: Villa Bernheim, which was occupied by Émile Bernheim, former President of the group À l'Innovation and is now an art gallery.^[6]
No. 67: Villa Empain (1930–1934), a private Art Deco house by Michel Polak, notable as the home of the Boghossian Foundation.^[7]
No. 86: Delune House (1904), an eclectic building combining Art Nouveau with influences from Byzantine architecture, by .^[8]
No. 110: Art Deco apartment building (1931) by Antoine Varlet^[9]

Embassies and consulates

The Avenue Franklin Roosevelt houses many embassies, including from the City of Brussels towards Watermael-Boitsfort:

References

Citations

Notes and References

Web site: Bruxelles et ses plus belles avenues Klare Lijn. www.klarelijn.be. 2020-05-20.
Web site: L’avenue Franklin Roosevelt. Quefaire.be. fr. 2020-05-20.
Web site: Bruxelles: Le réaménagement de l’avenue Franklin Roosevelt contesté. Libre.be. La. 2017-02-01. www.lalibre.be. fr. 2020-05-20.
Web site: Avenue Franklin Roosevelt – Inventaire du patrimoine architectural. 2022-01-09. monument.heritage.brussels. fr.
Web site: Ancienne habitation personnelle d’Adrien Blomme, actuel rectorat de l’Université libre de Bruxelles – Inventaire du patrimoine architectural. 2022-01-29. monument.heritage.brussels. fr.
Web site: Villa Bernheim. Foursquare.
Web site: Home. Villa Empain - Fondation Boghossian.
Web site: Château Delune – Inventaire du patrimoine architectural. 2022-01-29. monument.heritage.brussels. fr.
Web site: Avenue Franklin Roosevelt 110 – Inventaire du patrimoine architectural. 2022-01-09. monument.heritage.brussels. fr.