Charleroi: The Upper Town

The upper town, the historic heart of Charleroi, concentrates judicial, hospital, educational and administrative functions. The royal decree in 1867 prescribing the demolition of the fortress launched an era of major works. The surrounding industrial communities are connected to the city. New avenues welcome patrician houses in a late Art Nouveau style. In the 1920s, the destruction caused by the war led to a new work program marked by three master builders: Marcel Leborgne, who was close to Le Corbusier, Marcel Depelsenaire, more expressionist, and Joseph André, who mixed classicism, fine arts and decoration. Their major achievements are the town hall surmounted by a monumental belfry, built with Jules Cézar between 1932 and 1934, the Palais des Expositions in 1949, and the Palais des Beaux-Arts in 1953, a major work decorated by Zadkine and Magritte. In the 1960s, the development of the Plaine des Manoeuvres with the Depelsenaire courthouse was the last act of urbanization of land vacated a century earlier.

19.5 x 24cm

128 pages

100 black and white and color illustrations

ISBN: 978-2-9092-8341-8

Text in French only