| Project Id |
3615 |
| Project Name |
Grand Hornu, Belgium |
| Description |
Grand-Hornu is one of the most beautiful sites of the Industrial Revolution, listed by UNESCO in 2012 on the World Heritage List. This neoclassical former mining complex was owned and envisioned by Henri De Gorge. It includes the workshops and offices of the colliery, the working city of some 450 exceptionally comfortable houses for the time, each with a private garden, and the residence of the administrators, called Castle De Gorge. The workers' city is also equipped with a school, a hospital, public places, a library, a dance hall, ... Henri De Gorge calls on the Swiss architect Bruno Renard for its construction, to the principles of the communitarian ideal defended by certain theoreticians and utopians of the time. Becoming a symbol of the coal industry throughout the Belgian and French Hainaut, Grand-Hornu was also a fabulous technological laboratory. Henri De Gorge uses new extraction techniques and new steam engines. |
| Description of the economic, social and environmental impacts of the project |
As early as 1984, the provincial non-profit Grand-Hornu Images had set up its offices there and has continued its triple mission: heritage, tourism and culture. It placed Grand-Hornu in a good position in the major international heritage associations and develope a cultural program on the site. The exhibitions presented by the association explored the field of relations between art and industry; design, industrial creation and applied arts hold a privileged place, very close to the spirit of the place and in resonance with the history of the region.In 2002, the Museum of Contemporary Arts MAC's opens its doors and in 2014, Grand-Hornu Images became the CID - center of innovation and design at Grand-Hornu. It aims to promote contemporary design through a program of exhibitions and mediation activities highlighting innovation, experimental research, the emergence of new themes and horizons of research in the areas of design, architecture and applied arts. |
| Web links |
http://www.cid-grand-hornu.be/en/ |
| Country |
Belgium |
| City size |
Village (less than 5.000) |
