Boghossian Foundation

Brussels


Architecture fans should take the trip to this striking, symmetrical, 1930s villa, which combines austere design with gorgeously opulent materials: marble, polished granite and gleaming bronze. Built for the 21-year-old Baron Louis Empain, the building was requisitioned by the Nazis during the war and abandoned in the 1990s. The art foundation that restored and now runs the villa stages themed exhibitions, displaying work by artists such as De Chirico, Joseph Beuys, Jeff Koons and Andy Warhol.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Brussels attractions

1. Bois de la Cambre

0.57 MILES

This extensive forest park forms Brussels’ green lungs. It stretches from regal Ave Louise to the Forêt de Soignes, whose soaring beech trees then extend…

2. Hopstreet

0.92 MILES

Located in the brutalist Galerie Rivoli, a '70s former shopping centre, Hopstreet works with young and emerging Europe-based artists.

3. Xavier Hufkens

1.02 MILES

An attractive if severe space, with a big picture window looking out to a garden. Xavier Hufkens opened a gallery in a Brussels warehouse in 1987, and…

4. Messen De Clerq

1.03 MILES

Hidden behind an art nouveau exterior, this gallery features an old mosaiced corridor and a minimalist extension at the rear. There's an expansive gallery…

5. Almine Rech

1.05 MILES

There's a white space upstairs with a polished concrete floor, while downstairs sits a small art bookshop.

6. Musée Constantin Meunier

1.11 MILES

This intimate museum occupies an Ixelles town house that was the last home and studio of Brussels-born artist Constantin Meunier (1831–1905) and presents…

7. WWI Memorial

1.22 MILES

An artistic though modest tribute to the dead of WWI.