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Johan Leman, 26 May 2023

What is interesting about Molenbeek is, among other things, that the borough makes an important piece of European history, especially the last two centuries, recognisable and tangible. Molenbeek is in itself an interactive open-air museum “in process”.

An (no doubt incomplete) overview:

There is Karreveld Castle (16th-17th centuries).

And then there is the period 1830-1914. There are 2 museums that respond excellently to 2 aspects of 19th-20th-century industrialisation in the canal zone (and the migrations that accompanied it): museum MMM (early 20th-century workshop construction) and la Fonderie. There are some typical status buildings from the end of the 19th century (eclectic-neoclassical style): the Town Hall and what is now Maison des Cultures, and there are 2 other buildings from the same period on the canal itself: a brewery that has now become Hotel Meininger and an industrial bakery (later adapted in Horta style), now “Lulu”.

So we come to the 1920-1940 period… with the Great (Industrial) Hall in the Heyvaert district, the cité Diongre, St John Baptist church, art deco, modernism.

And finally the newer projects: with e.g. the MIMA. And some concert and other venues such as the future VK and Recyclart.

By the way, one could also revive a piece of Jewish-Brussels history in Molenbeek, which is now totally snowed under… and look ahead to possible developments in what is already emerging and will require better architecture in the future: some larger mosques.

What should be avoided when taking Molenbeek as a flag for a project is to focus on what is not Molenbeek, but rather adjacent to it. Because such a thing would only increase the stigmatisation of Molenbeek. It’s as if the message would be: feel free to visit the outskirts of Molenbeek, but above all, don’t go inside Molenbeek itself.

Actually, there are 2 big challenges:

How to reconcile Molenbeek which is a zone that has been an arrival zone for newcomer migrants for almost 200 years and has a very young population with gentrification?

How can one develop an interesting overall concept for Molenbeek so that one improves rather than complicates the lives of the residents themselves on it?

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