Recently had a little jaunt to Belgium with Broadsword. We visited several locations, this is the first report.
We both found this site particularly depressing, the interior is a total mess with not too much of interest. All metalwork has been stripped out and not one window is intact. Local kids appear to come here and take great joy in throwing stuff off the roof for some reason.
Externally the building is wonderful and a tribute to 30's architecture with touches of Le Corbusier in the form of the building. it must have been magnificent in its heyday.
Some history taken from Red Het – Sanatorium
In 1933 Maxime Brunfaut was given the assignment to design a sanitarium for 150 male tbc patients by La Prévoyance Sociale. For this purpose a part of the Tombeek heath near Overijse had been bought. 13 Months after the first stone-laying – a record building time – the sanitarium Joseph Lemaire was opened on the 30th of September 1937 under international interest. The name Joseph Lemaire was given as a tribute to the director of La Prévoyance Sociale of that time.
La Prévoyance Sociale, who gave the assignment, had bought a building site 19 km south of Brussels. The modernistic building first served as a sanitarium for tbc patients, then as a nursing home. When the sanitarium was closed down in 1987, 50 years after its grand opening, it faced an uncertain future.
On with the pictures, mostly exterior due to depressing nature of the interior.
We both found this site particularly depressing, the interior is a total mess with not too much of interest. All metalwork has been stripped out and not one window is intact. Local kids appear to come here and take great joy in throwing stuff off the roof for some reason.
Externally the building is wonderful and a tribute to 30's architecture with touches of Le Corbusier in the form of the building. it must have been magnificent in its heyday.
Some history taken from Red Het – Sanatorium
In 1933 Maxime Brunfaut was given the assignment to design a sanitarium for 150 male tbc patients by La Prévoyance Sociale. For this purpose a part of the Tombeek heath near Overijse had been bought. 13 Months after the first stone-laying – a record building time – the sanitarium Joseph Lemaire was opened on the 30th of September 1937 under international interest. The name Joseph Lemaire was given as a tribute to the director of La Prévoyance Sociale of that time.
La Prévoyance Sociale, who gave the assignment, had bought a building site 19 km south of Brussels. The modernistic building first served as a sanitarium for tbc patients, then as a nursing home. When the sanitarium was closed down in 1987, 50 years after its grand opening, it faced an uncertain future.
On with the pictures, mostly exterior due to depressing nature of the interior.
