“ART DECO, Roaring Twenties, Crash Years” takes centre stage at Heritage Days 2025

Monday 15 September 2025

Ans Persoons, Brussels Secretary of State for Urban Planning and Heritage, Sarah Lagrillière, Deputy Director-General of urban.brussels, and Paul Dujardin, Commissioner for the Year of Art Deco 2025, presented the programme and opened registrations for the public for the 37th edition of Heritage Days, which will take place on the weekend of 20 & 21 September 2025. This edition, themed “ART DECO, Roaring Twenties, Crash Years”, will showcase a wide range of exceptional heritage from a new thematic angle by giving free access to places that are usually closed to the public.

"Heritage only has meaning when it is shared. With these Heritage Days 2025 dedicated to Art Deco, we are celebrating our heritage and confirming that it is a common good, accessible to all, across walls and across different periods. It is a living thing, something we are proud of, and which contributes to our Brussels identity. Rediscovering Art Deco means more than just admiring its aesthetics. It is about understanding the dreams, hopes and challenges of a difficult period, which still resonate today," explains Ans Persoons, Brussels Secretary of State for Urban Planning and Heritage.

Art Deco was progressive, yet simultaneously adhered to craftsmanship and human scale. It combined modern comfort with classical influences and monumental beauty. That duality between past and future is what makes Art Deco still relevant today. Modernity, a key concept in this style, is therefore the common thread in our 2025 programming.” says Sarah Lagrillière, Deputy General Manager of urban.brussels

A celebration of Brussels Art Deco

During this 37th edition, urban.brussels, as part of Year of Art Deco 2025, is offering the opportunity to take a fresh and critical look at this artistic movement, which is omnipresent in our capital. This weekend, which is set to be the highlight of the year for Brussels heritage, will be entirely devoted to it.

Beyond its aesthetics and iconic luxury, the programme aims to explore the urban, architectural, sociological and human dimensions of this artistic movement, which first appeared at the 1925 Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels in Paris. The many activities will focus on highlighting the social issues that Art Deco addressed in the 1920s and 1930s, a period that saw the liberation of morals, as well as the threat of economic, social and political crises.

This year's programme offers Brussels residents, Belgians and international visitors 217 different activities, 194 of which are specifically dedicated to Art Deco, including exhibitions, shows, screenings, lectures and visits to iconic buildings in all 19 municipalities. In total, 84 Art Deco buildings will open their doors to the public, there will be 72 guided tours, 45 free visits with open doors, 15 exhibitions and 69 city tours on foot or by bicycle throughout the Brussels region. Special attention is paid to accessibility for all, with 17 places accessible to people with reduced mobility and 7 places offering guided tours in sign language (in French).

Discover exceptional Art Deco buildings

The Brussels region has a wealth of unique Art Deco heritage, some discreet, some monumental. The streets of Brussels are full of treasures to discover or rediscover.

During Heritage Days, visitors will have the opportunity to visit iconic places such as the Radio House at Flagey, the Van Buuren Gardens, the National Basilica of the Sacred Heart, the Villa Empain-Boghossian Foundation, BOZAR, the Wiels, the town hall of Forest, the Residence Palace... What makes this edition extra special is the access to places that are usually closed to the public. Visitors can take part in guided tours behind the scenes of some of Brussels' best-kept architectural secrets, including the Riez House, the Pelgrims House, the Queen Elisabeth Medical Foundation, the workshops of La Monnaie and the house of architect Henry Lacoste.

For lovers of unique experiences, exceptional private residences will open their doors to the public, including the Glass House, the Vandervelde Villa, the Homem de Macédo House, the Herrera House, the Dotremont House and several houses designed by architect Louis Tenaerts.

Finally, the public will be able to rediscover many Brussels neighbourhoods, such as the Quartier du Canal, the Quartier Maritime, Dansaert, Louiza, as well as various garden cities and neighbourhoods in Uccle, Forest, Ixelles, Anderlecht, Schaerbeek, etc., through guided tours and city tours on foot or by bicycle, all viewed through the thematic lens of Art Deco.

Art Deco, a way of life to rediscover

This year, the programme will not only focus on buildings. Intangible cultural heritage will also be highlighted through lectures, screenings and various exhibitions to provide a better understanding of society in the 1920s and 1930s.

After the terrible war years, people wanted to live, dance and have fun again during the interbellum. The call for freedom and expression manifested itself in dance, music, fashion and leisure, and Brussels was vibrant as never before. These Heritage Days will give the public the opportunity to immerse themselves in the fashion of the 1920s and 1930s, jazz, lindy hop and swing, gastronomy, beer culture... but also in the atmosphere of the cafés and bistros of that period.

Key female figures in Belgian Art Deco

The interwar period was not only characterised by the rise of the Art Deco style, but also by an important phase in the emancipation of women. That is why the Heritage Days programme rightly pays tribute to the women who actively contributed to this art movement and to the campaign for women's rights.

This is an opportunity to immerse yourself in the archives of Céline Dangrotte, a fascinating but little-known figure in Belgian Art Deco who ran her own interior design company, to discover the work of Lina Cauchie, a talented painter and pioneer who was one of the first women to be admitted to the Académie des Beaux-Arts, or to attend the lectures of conference speaker Elisabeth Gérard and learn more about female decorators, designers, architects and artisans who demonstrate the importance of women in Belgian architecture during the interwar period.

The Year of Art Deco 2025

As a reminder, throughout 2025, Brussels will be paying tribute to this architectural movement, which has gone viral thanks to enhanced cooperation between Urban and visit.brussels, and all their partners, brought together under the supervision of Commissioner Paul Dujardin. Although these Heritage Days are definitely one of the highlights of the Year of Art Deco 2025, they will be followed by a packed programme of exhibitions, activities, events, visits and lectures in the capital's most beautiful Art Deco buildings. The programme for the coming months is available on the website www.artdeco2025.brussels.

Matrimony Days - 26 to 28 September

The Matrimony Days, which have been organised since 2019 on the initiative of asbl L'architecture qui dégenre with the support of urban.brussels, will take place on 26, 27 and 28 September. The aim is to enable visitors to discover Brussels' artistic, political and feminist heritage.

"This 7th edition of the Matrimony Days will bring the women who work in the shadows into the spotlight: female coordinators, workers, archivists, craftswomen, designers... who have been erased from history. And there are many of them in Art Deco! Although they have been made invisible in history, they have had a lasting influence on architecture and decoration in the interwar period," explains asbl L'architecture qui dégenre.

All additional information about Heritage Days 2025 can be found at www.heritagedays.urban.brussels.