The district of Anderlecht is not really associated with garden suburbs: however there are three of them there. Although not well known, the buildings in them were designed by some talented architects, such as Antoine Pompe, Jules-Jacques Eggerickx, Fernand Brunfaut, Louis Van Der Swaelmen and Joseph Diongre.

Squeezed between the Chaussée de Mons and the canal, the Cité de la Roue was built between 1921 and 1928 and contains several groups of cottage-style houses, a clear reference to the English origins of garden suburbs. The estate also include a remarkable Art Deco school, built in 1938. In a similar style, the Cité du Bon-Air was built on the edge of the district on the other side of the ring road. It enables us to see what the original landscaping of a garden suburb looked like: an estate of groups of houses outside the city, in open countryside. Finally, the Cité de Moortebeek is the garden suburb that has probably best retained the homogenous style of its buildings, with harmonious colours and materials that have created a very successful whole, that stands comparison with the Le Logis and Floréal garden suburbs in Boitsfort!

To help participants appreciate all the details of these three architectural ensembles, this guided tour will be by bicycle and we will travel along sections of the “Brussels green promenade” between them.

Pictures © visit.brussels-Jean-Paul-Remy & © patrimoine.brussels