Built in less than a decade, Square Coghen is a hidden enclave of Art Deco and Modernist houses in southern Brussels. Located off Avenue Brugmann, it dates from a period when Belgian architects were experimenting with bold new forms of construction.
The unique houses were designed by acclaimed architects including De Koninck, Franssen and Delville. They have interesting details such as round porthole windows, jagged profiles and curved balconies.
Not many people ever discover this forgotten corner of Uccle, where the architecture harks back to a lost golden age of jazz music and ocean liners. ‘A more joyous, more relaxed and more comfortable life,’ as an advertisement promised at the time.
Derek Blyth’s hidden secret of the day: Derek Blyth is the author of the bestselling “The 500 Hidden Secrets of Belgium”. He picks out one of his favourite hidden secrets for The Brussels Times every day.
