37. Grégoire-Lagasse House

Henry van de Velde, founder of the Institut Supérieur des Arts Décoratifs de La Cambre, was a man of many talents. As well as being a painter, interior designer, writer, jewellery designer and designer, he was also a renowned architect and the leading theorist of Art Nouveau.
In the 1920s, however, he became an advocate of modernism. The Cohen House and the Wolfers House date from this period, as does Professor Grégoire Lagasse’s house on the Dieweg, built in 1933. Henry van de Velde’s design for this house is undoubtedly the one that most closely aligns with the International Style. From the outside, the house is characterised by austere façades with sharp edges and walls clad in white render. Inside, all the rooms are arranged around a central staircase which diffuses light throughout the house. This light floods in generously through the large rectangular windows, which take up substantial sections of the façade in a dynamic interplay of solid and void surfaces.
Listed in 1982, the house has housed an ‘observatory gallery’ since 1995, which regularly hosts exhibitions showcasing works by young international artists.
Source: Korei guided tours