Sample of modern architecture

"The Vilvoord buildings designed by De Winter and Engels in the 1950s and 1960s form a dense network of reference points across the provincial city, which has thus become a fine sampling of 1950s and 1960s architecture. They transcend the provincialist context and, without being prestige projects, can compete with the international forum." This is how authors Geert Conaerts and Eva De Wachter conclude their final paper on architects Lucien Engels and Roger De Winter, who both together and separately designed several houses in Vilvoorde. By "dense network," the authors refer to the more than 40 houses that were built more or less in the same neighborhood. It was no accident that the architects were able to build such a dense network of houses in a short period of time. Engels and De Winter carried out their Vilvoord projects mainly during the 1950s -1960s, which proved to be a high point in Belgian housing history. The question is therefore what influence the (postwar) housing policy had on the expansion of Vilvoorde and to what extent the projects of architects Engels and De Winter were influenced by it. Answers to these questions, among others, can be found in the book Vilvoorde, Staalkaart van moderne architectuur - Roger De Winter en Lucien Engels, published in 2010 on the initiative of the Province of Flemish Brabant. Besides a detailed description of 46 houses, richly illustrated with interior photographs, the book also contains contributions on the social and modernist context in which they were created and on their contemporary vulnerability. Fascinating reading, prompting an on-site exploration. Hence the Province of Flemish Brabant and the City Council of Vilvoorde compiled this walking brochure.