Conference and film screening: "Stoclet 1911 Restitution"

Learn more

The Stoclet House might well be considered Josef Hoffmann’s masterpiece, an architect with a profound influence on European architecture. At the end of the nineteenth century, designers, architects and artists gradually became more autonomous, seeking to distinguish themselves from the artistic currents that preceded them. This marked the beginning of a frantic succession of artistic movements, which followed one another in ever shorter cycles. This dynamic, driven by the quest for modernity and progress, marked the better part of the nineteenth century and all of the twentieth century.

Through his teaching, his presence at many international exhibitions and his long life, Hoffmann touched several generations. But it is above all his quest for modernity and for spiritual elevation through beauty and purity of form that has inspired hundreds of architects and designers in our western culture. His work was so radical that it awed both the future modernists of the avant-garde and the Art Deco followers, in spite of their fundamental differences. This fascination certainly lasted until the 2000s (postmodernism).

The digital reconstruction, presented as a film, aims to take visitors on a tour of the interiors of the Stoclet House, which has been on the very select list of Brussels buildings placed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List since 2009, but is still little known to the general public. This reconstruction, which reproduces the palace as it was between 1911 and 1918 and does not represent the current situation, is based on precise archival sources and a detailed architectural analysis of its spaces. This task kept a team of experts busy for almost two years. The realism of the reconstruction yields an immersive experience which allows visitors to see the building as it was from 1911 to 1918: we discover it exactly as it had been conceived by husband and wife Adolphe Stoclet and Suzanne Stevens.