57. Hotel Waxweiler

The architects Constant Bosmans and Henri Vandeveld designed this large townhouse in a style inspired by Art Nouveau in 1907 for Émile Waxweiler, a Belgian engineer who taught at the Free University of Brussels and was the first Director of the Solvay Institute of Sociology. In 1908, the original building was enriched with a series of grand additions to the facades (carved panels, stained glass and metal grilles) and new interiors designed by architect Léon Sneyers in the geometric Art Nouveau style, strongly influenced by the Viennese Secession. The vaulted vestibule leads to a grand, vaulted, rectangular entrance hall with rounded corners. A second hall, set at right angles to the first, houses the staircase with its wrought-iron banister rail, leading to the first floor. The original bookshelves can still be seen in the library section of the reception room, which opens onto the dining room with its stucco ceiling and well-preserved panelling.