Hôtel Winssinger
Designed in the spirit of the “total work of art” so dear to the undisputed master of Art Nouveau, the Winssinger House reveals a harmonious world of organic curves, floral motifs, decorative stained glass, mosaic floors, warm colour palettes, and exquisite materials, including parquet flooring, fine woodwork, ironwork, and ornamental metal details. Its signature exposed steel structures further embody Victor Horta’s innovative architectural vision.
This distinguished Art Nouveau townhouse, with its elegant white-stone façade, was built by Victor Horta between 1894 and 1897 for engineer Camille Winssinger, a close collaborator of Ernest Solvay. The original residence featured a winter garden and a grand staircase flooded with natural light, its walls adorned with luxuriant vegetal decoration. Significant alterations to both the façade and interior were carried out between 1927 and 1929, when the private residence was converted into an apartment building.
In 1946, architect Henri Jacobs Jr. replaced the original garden with a large office extension for the Belgian insurance company Le Lion Belge. Today, thanks to the passion of its current owner and the expertise of Barbara Van der Wee, a leading specialist in Victor Horta’s work, the house has regained much of its former splendour. The winter garden and part of the historic garden have been carefully reconstructed, restoring the spirit and elegance of this remarkable Art Nouveau masterpiece.
© Beculture
Events taking place here
The piano accompanied Mozart throughout his life from early childhood, when he performed in public across Europe. His keyboard works often resonate with those written for larger ensembles or for the operatic stage, serving as a genuine laboratory for new ideas. In the eighteenth century, however, the piano sounded quite different from modern instruments.
With his Marimba Lumina, an electronic instrument conceived by synthesizer pioneer Donald Buchla, Lukas Ligeti creates a sonic universe that defies categorization.
Drawing on complex rhythms, shifting pulses and sound fragments recorded during his travels — particularly in Africa — he creates music in which electronics become a space where cultures, memory and imagination meet.
The rise of the Baroque transverse flute developed across Europe in the early 18th century. Driven by the maker, composer, and musician Jacques-Martin Hotteterre, it gradually replaced the recorder, thanks to the vast palette of colours and expressive possibilities it offers. Initially associated with intimate works accompanied by lute or theorbo, it gained new momentum from the 1730s onwards with virtuoso flautists such as Michel Blavet and Pierre-Gabriel Buffardin.