28. Villa Empain – Boghossian Foundation

This remarkable Art Deco villa was built between 1931 and 1934 by the Swiss architect Michel Polak for the very young Baron Louis Empain. This building follows in the tradition of early 20th-century Viennese architecture, which is reminiscent of the Stoclet Palace built in Brussels 20 years earlier. The rigour and simplicity of the design contrast with the use of particularly luxurious materials (various types of marble, precious woods and the abundant use of bronze). Long left derelict, it now houses the activities of the Boghossian Foundation, a centre for art and dialogue between Eastern and Western cultures.