Ghent
Belgium - Ghent
Archetypes
In Belgium the typology of the heritage masonry terraced townhouses, built between 1800 and 1918 is studied. During this period of industrialisation, historical cities in Belgium and other major EU cities, experienced a colossal growth and the bourgeois society emerged. The townhouses reflect the evolving social landscape of this bourgeois society. They were shaped by the desires for individuality and social status, leading to distinct architectural forms, especially in their facades, which became key to personal expression and were thus highly ornamented. Other common features among all the typologies include a vertical orientation and a clear hierarchy of spaces, arranged as an enfilade perpendicular to the street. The middle-class townhouse is most prevalent in all Belgian historical cities and certainly in Ghent. Wealthier homes, the private mansions, present an excess of rooms, more elaborate spatial divisions and more decorated facades and interiors. Multifamily townhouses, although less prevalent in Ghent, are common in bigger cities like Antwerp and Brussels, where they maintained the hierarchical structure of middle-class living but with a horizontal organization, reflecting a shift from verticality to internal differentiation. In contrast, modest houses represented a simplified version of middle-class townhouses, with fewer rooms and less complexity, tailored for the upper working class.
Middle-class townhouse
Private Mansion
Multi-family townhouse
modest house
Middle-class townhouse
Private Mansion
Multi-family townhouse
modest house
Neighbourhoods
The city of Ghent has a complex development history that dates back to the Middles Ages. Being already one of the largest and most important cities of the Western Europe around 1300, a great expansion of the city came together with the Industrial Revolution and continued in the following centuries. The enormous population growth during the Industrial Revolution necessitated the construction of additional housing, catering both to the emerging bourgeoisie and the working class. One strategy to address this demand was the concept of tabula rasa, whereby new neighbourhoods were developed along newly constructed traffic arteries that cut through existing urban fabric. This approach resulted, on the one hand, in highly uniform facade designs, but on the other hand, in building blocks that often took on remarkably irregular shapes. The two selected neighbourhoods exemplify the different archetypes of the city and present challenges that are shared by similar district in other European cities.
Sint Michielsplein – or the St. Michael’s Church Square- lies in the Medieval historic centre of the city. The area has developed historically and organically, with buildings from various periods and a mixture of functions and building types that intersect and blend together. The neighbourhood is dominated by the Gothic Sint-Michielskerk, whose construction began in 1440. The masonry heritage terraced townhouses present date from the first half of the 19th century to the first quarter of the 20th century. Due to the organic growth of this site, some of this 19th -century townhouses have an older core or are renovated older houses. The only building that diverges from this historical context is a 20th-century underground parking garage with an aboveground office building.
The Vlaanderenstraat bears witness to the 19th-century urban planning vision. It was drawn in 1883 straight through an existing neighbourhood. This intentionally designed shopping street connected the former South Station with the historic city centre and its monuments. The current homes in the Vlaanderenstraat were erected following this new urban development and are representative of a specific moment when the city of Ghent knew a significant growth of the built area. Almost all the buildings on this street belong to the archetype of the middle-class townhouse, with commercial spaces on the ground floor and residences above and a very uniform, yet individual, façade expression.