Villa Empain
A young baron’s Art Deco palace, built around a pool and clad in granite, now restored as a centre for art and dialogue.
At a glance
Villa Empain was built between 1930 and 1935 on the elegant Avenue Franklin Roosevelt for Baron Louis Empain, the young heir of one of Belgium’s great industrial dynasties. Its architect, the Swiss-Belgian Michel Polak, produced one of the purest Art Deco houses in Europe: polished granite façades, interiors of marble and bronze, and a glazed central courtyard wrapped around a swimming pool. After decades of dispersal — embassy, broadcaster’s offices, periods of neglect — it was restored in 2009–2010 and now operates as a museum and cultural centre run by the Boghossian Foundation.
Key facts
- Architect: Michel Polak
- Built: 1930–1935
- Style: Art Deco
- Patron: Baron Louis Empain
- Status: Museum and cultural centre (Boghossian Foundation, since 2007; restored 2009–2010)
- Address: 67 Avenue Franklin Roosevelt, Brussels
History
Louis Empain was barely in his twenties when he commissioned the villa. He used it only briefly before donating it to the Belgian state in 1937. What followed was a century in miniature: the building was requisitioned by the German army in 1943, served as a Soviet embassy after the war, was reclaimed by the Empain family in 1963, and later housed the offices of the broadcaster RTL.
By the early 2000s it had fallen into disrepair. The Boghossian Foundation acquired it and carried out a meticulous restoration in 2009–2010, reopening the house as a venue for exhibitions and cultural exchange between East and West.
What you see
The street front is austere and luxurious at once: planes of polished granite, a gilded gate, and crisp Deco geometry without applied ornament. The richness is held inside.
The house is organised around a top-lit central hall in marble and bronze, opening to a garden courtyard with a long swimming pool — the heart of the composition. Every material was chosen for sheen and permanence, the hallmark of the most ambitious Art Deco interiors.
Practical information
- Open to visitors for exhibitions; check the Boghossian Foundation programme and hours.
- Admission charged for exhibitions; the garden and pool are part of the visit.
- Allow an hour for the house and current show.
Getting there
Address: 67 Avenue Franklin Roosevelt, Brussels. The villa stands near the Bois de la Cambre in the south of the city; trams along Avenue Franklin Roosevelt and Boulevard Général Jacques stop close by, and the ULB university campus is a short walk away.
Nearby
- Bois de la Cambre and the Abbaye de la Cambre
- The Art Nouveau quarter of Ixelles (Horta’s houses)
- The ponds of Ixelles
Sources
- Boghossian Foundation (official)
- Brussels regional heritage register (urban.brussels)
- Wikipedia: Villa Empain
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