rue Neuve_Location file_NEW_1505

Rue Neuve /Nieuwstraat
Application deadline: Monday 16 June
Budget envelope:
10,000 > 15,000 EUR
Location :
Rue Neuve - between rue Fossé-aux-Loups and rue aux Choux (at the level of the Finistère Church)
Sought after project:
An outdoor project (installation/performance) that revives the atmosphere that reigned at night in the thirties in the surrounding
neighbourhood (see background information).
By outdoor project we mean that the public has to remain in the street to view the project. You may therefore use building façades
or invest shopping windows. NUIT BLANCHE will take care of negotiating the necessary authorizations with the different partners at
stake.
We are also in touch with Cinematek, the Archives of the City of Brussels and various collectors and historians that have films,
pictures and collector items at their disposal. Some of which may be used within your project.
This call being very peculiar, please get in touch with us at [email protected] or [email protected] to
discuss your proposal before submitting it officially. We will provide you with additional information regarding what may or
may be not feasible and help you further develop your proposal.
The project may be interactive but it is not mandatory.
Project restrictions / specifications:
Set up : depending on the project but note that rue Neuve is a busy shopping street and that stores are open until 6.30 PM on
Saturday
Timing on Saturday: from 8 or 9 PM until 5 or 7 AM depending on the project
Break down : on Sunday
Background information:
Note: French and Dutch versions of this text are available on request at [email protected]
Rue Neuve, THE nightlife spot of the 1930s
Beginnings
From the start of the 20th century, the city's central boulevards and Rue Neuve became the district for cinemas – the new kind of
theatre. Having, from 1850 onwards, started to shed its bourgeois trappings of private mansions, Rue Neuve continued its
transformation to become a busy shopping street.1
The Eden was the first cinema to be given its own specially designed building, in 1906-1907, on Rue Neuve. Nearby, the Kursaal
Brasserie (1911) and the Modern Palace (1913) took over the premises of two department stores for their screening rooms, while
the Tour du Monde (1911) replaced a men's clothing store.2 The Trianon took the place of an indoor market in 1913, and the Regent
opened in the same year.3
The First World War put a brake on the booming film industry in Belgium, but once peace was restored, a prosperous era began
with the influx of American films, whose originality and vitality ousted the French productions.4
Inter-war years
While the start of the century had seen the emergence of a plethora of small cinemas, the inter-war period was to become the
Golden Age.5 At that time, Rue Neuve and the central boulevards buzzed at night with a vibrancy that is hard to imagine today.
Cinemas dotted the street with their illuminated signs, and cafés, tea rooms, ice cream parlours and bars abounded.
Indeed, electric lighting established itself firmly on the market after the First World War and was readily exploited by a society that
was discovering the charms of the city by night. Apartments, theatres, cinemas, shops and advertising – entire cities were lit up
by the miracle of electricity. It was a profound and innovative development in the way cities were designed and experienced. Backlit advertising on the grand boulevards and outside lighting illuminated the streets to spectacular visual effect. A decade later,
neon signs appeared, and cinemas proudly began displaying the title of the week's film on their elegant awnings.6
Rue Neuve and the central boulevards continued to be colonised by cinemas of all kinds. In 1920, the Palladium cinema was
founded at number 35, and in 1921 the Lutetia Palace opened its doors in the Galerie du Commerce.
At the end of 1929, the first talking motion picture, The Jazz Singer, was screened in Belgium on Rue Neuve, at the Aubert cinema
(formerly the Trianon). Three years later, all the major cinemas worthy of that name turned to sound. On Rue Neuve, the Kursaal
Brasserie disappeared with the demise of silent film, to be replaced, in 1930, by the shop, Sarma.
With the advent of talking pictures, cinemas required more careful design so as to deliver the best possible acoustics. Architects
lined up to erect the most beautiful temples to film. A style of architecture entirely dedicated to the cinema appeared: care was
given to audience comfort, audience flow, ventilation and sound quality.7
1L’Heure bleue. La vie nocturne à Bruxelles de 1840 à 1940, catalogue d’exposition (mars-mai 1987) Bruxelles, Crédit Communal, 1987, p. 162.
2 L’Heure bleue (…), op. cit., p. 161.
3
D. DE BLIECK et E. VAUTHIER, Inventaire des salles de cinéma de la région de Bruxelles, La Rétine de Plateau, Bruxelles, 1994.
4L’Heure bleue (…), op. cit., p. 165.
5L’Heure bleue (…), op. cit., p. 167.
6F. DEVILLE, « Les lumières de la fête », dans Lieux de fêtes, Région de Bruxelles Capitale, Ed. Mardaga, Sprimont, 1998, p. 88-95.
7E. VAUTHIER et E. ESCOBEDO, « La ville, la lumière et l'image animée », dans Lieux de fêtes, Région de Bruxelles Capitale, Ed. Mardaga,
Sprimont, 1998, p. 67-69.
Several major cinemas opened on Rue Neuve and nearby. First the Roxy (1929), which took over the old Regent with a 1,455-seat
cinema, and then the Commodor (Rue du Pont-Neuf 66), which opened in 1932. In 1935, the Crosly-Leopold III opened on the
premises of the former Modern Palace. The American Cinema was created in 1939 on Rue du Pont-Neuf, where there had been a
cinema since 1908, named first the Palace and then the Orient Palace. But the two most remarkable cinemas of the period were
most certainly the Eldorado, created in 1933 on Place de Brouckère, and the Métropole on Rue Neuve inaugurated in 1932.8
The Métropole, the “film palace”, was designed by the architect Adrien Blomme for the Wielemans family and aimed to be at the
forefront of modernity. Every effort was made to please the audience: the operator placed priority on technical quality and on the
comfort of the screening room, which could accommodate up to 3,000 people. The interior décor alone was a fantastic sight to
behold. At the time, the Métropole was likened to "a 1930s cruise liner, the most beautiful cinema in Belgium!" Attire was stylish
and refined; going to the cinema was an opportunity to get dressed up to the nines, go to the hairdresser, and to meet friends.
These middle-class nights out were the finest hours of the Métropole and Rue Neuve.9
But Rue Neuve was also vibrant outside screening times: when 1,000, 2,000, 3,000 people streamed out of the cinema and into the
street, the district truly came to life. Particularly as, from the 1920s onwards, balls were replaced by dance halls, which flourished
across the city. These night-clubs were often actually underground extensions to theatres, hotels, and especially cinemas!10 For
example, La Frégate, which was attached to the Métropole cinema and whose décor, like the cinema, was reminiscent of the
bridge of a cruise liner, was, until the 1960s, one of the prime night-spots on Rue Neuve.11 But there was also the Roxy underneath
its cinema namesake, the Parisiana underneath the Commodor, and many more.12
Around Rue Neuve, the streets also teemed with life: the dance hall Le Palace on Place Rogier drew in the crowds, while many
dance bars cropped up on Rue de l'Eveque (between La Monnaie and Boulevard Anspach).13 The popular café, Le Diable au corps,
the favourite spot for artists and students, opened on Rue aux Choux but was destroyed in 1929 for the extension to the Innovation
department store.14 Rue du Finistère was home to the bar L'Espérance, designed in 1930 in true Art Deco style.15 There were also
many hotels on the central boulevards and on Place de Brouckère.
Between the two, Rue du Fossé aux Loups was a prime location and was home to the famous Gaity Bar under the Théâtre de la
Gaité. After the First World War, this bar had two essential and contrasting bands, one a tango band, and the other jazz. But this
line-up soon had to be expanded. Indeed, in 1926, a major competitor set up on the street: the Cameo cinema and its dance hall.
The Gaity started offering a full cabaret show to hang onto its custom. In 1932, the Bar du Cameo became the Broadway. Ballet
and singers, including Piaf, were part of the line-up with music by Jean Omer and others of his ilk.16
The musical ambiance was swinging in this period: jazz and dance were closely linked. In 1920, jazz officially appeared in Belgium
via the Alhambra cabaret.17 The trend had caught on – every dance hall had to have its own group. Jazz was not only played in the
dance halls, but also at tea dances at the major hotels: Plaza, Métropole, Atlanta, Palace, Grand Hôtel, etc. But who still knows that
The Bistrouille Dance Orchestra, the first European big band, was first formed in Brussels? And that the first musical jazz review,
8L’Heure bleue (…), op. cit.,p. 169.
9E. VAUTHIER et E. ESCOBEDO, « La ville, la lumière et l'image animée », op.cit.
10L’Heure bleue (…), op. cit.,p. 137.
11
A.-M. PIRLOT, Bruxelles et ses cafés, coll. Bruxelles, ville d’art et d’histoire, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale, Bruxelles, p. 30.
12
D. DE BLIECK et E. VAUTHIER, Inventaire des salles de cinéma de la région de Bruxelles, La Rétine de Plateau, Bruxelles, 1994.
13 M. DANVAL, « L'âge d'or des clubs de jazz et dancings (1920-1960), dans Lieux de fêtes, Région de Bruxelles Capitale, Ed. Mardaga, Sprimont,
1998, p. 77-87.
14
A.-M. PIRLOT, Bruxelles et ses cafés, op.cit., p.11.
15
A.-M. PIRLOT, Bruxelles et ses cafés, op.cit., p.30.
16L’Heure bleue (…), op. cit., p. 138-140
17L’Heure bleue (…), op. cit., p. 142.
Music, was Belgian? At that time, Brussels could pride itself on being the European jazz capital, well before the other major cities
had jumped on the bandwagon.18
What's more, around the 1930s cafés and other drinking establishments began to flourish, reaching new heights with the
announcement of the forthcoming World Fair (1935).19
With so many cinemas, cafés and dance halls, it becomes clear why the city centre's streets were, in days gone by, the night-spot
of choice, and that, in 1930, Rue Neuve was much more vibrant than it is today!
List of locations (see map below)
Cinemas
1
Kursaal Brasserie
2
Lutetia Palace
3
Metropole
4
Palladium
History: (1911-1929)
History : Lutetia Palace (1921-1946), Victory (1946-1973)
History: (1932-1994)
History: (1920-1954)
Address
Current situation
Rue Neuve 13-15
Hema
Rue Neuve 17/ Galerie du Commerce 39
H&M
Rue Neuve 30
Zara
Rue Neuve 35
Promod
Rue Neuve 37
Ici Paris XL
Rue Neuve 53-55-57
Mango
Rue Neuve 68
?
Rue Neuve 153-155
City 2
La Cigale
5
History: Le Tour du Monde (1911-1916), Cinéma Attractions
(1918-1919), La Cigale (1919-1954), Cinevox (1954-1955), Astor
(1955-1979)
6
History: Régent (1913-1929), Roxy (1929-1954), Etoile (19541979), Midi Minuit (1979-1985)
Le Roxy
Trianon-Aubert Palace (1931-1955)
7
History: Trianon (1913-1925), Aubert (1926-1930), TrianonAubert Palace (1931-1955)
8
Eden
History: Eden (1906-1934) Crosly Nord (1934-1957)
Modern Palace
9
History: Modern Palace (1913-1935), Crosly-Léopold III (1935Rue Neuve 147
1950)
City 2
Orient Palace
History: Palace (1908), Orient Palace (1918-1939), American
Cinéma (1939-1940), Interciné (1940-1944) American Cinéma
(1944-1952), American (1952-1985)
Rue du Pont Neuf 62
10
18 M. DANVAL, « L'âge d'or des clubs de jazz et dancings (1920-1960), op. cit., p. 77-87.
19L’Heure bleue (…), op. cit., p. 156.
?
Commodor
11
12
History: Commodor (1932-1938), Cinéphone (1938-1954)
Cameo
History: (1926-1991)
Cinema de l'Opéra
13
14
History: (1910-1914)
Piccadilly
History: (1957-1981)
Nightclubs and pubs in the
neighbourhood
15
16
17
18
19
Roxy (1932)
La Frégate (1932)
Le Diable au corps (1893-1929)
Rue du Pont Neuf 66-68
?
Rue Fossé aux Loups 10-12
Cameo
Rue Fossé aux Loups 27
café L'Absolu
Rue Fossé aux Loups 28
Samurai
Address
comments
Rue Neuve 53-55-57
Underneath Roxy
Rue Neuve 30
Underneath Métropole
Rue aux Choux, 12
Grand café de Madrid (1924-1932) then le
Parisiana (1932)
Gaity Bar
20
Bar du Cameo (1926) then Broadway (1932)
21
Taverne-Hôtel L'espérance (1930)
Rue du Pont Neuf 66-68
Underneath Commodor
Rue Fossé aux Loups 18
Underneath Théâtre de la Gaité
Rue Fossé aux Loups 10-12
Rue du Finistère 1-3
Underneath Cameo
Still existing in same style
Pictures of the street nowadays:
Rmq: Check Google street view for a better view of the various façades
Delivery restrictions:
Street accessible to all vehicles outside shopping hours
Possible Parking Space:
-
Rue Fossé-aux-Loups / Wolvengracht (delivery only in front of Cash Converter) or Rue Neuve /
Nieuwstraat outside shopping hours
Public Parking: Q-Park