Palais de la Folle Chanson, Art Deco apartment building in Ixelles, Belgium.
The Palais de la Folle Chanson is a residential building made of reinforced concrete and granite finish with a distinctive semi-circular rotunda at the corner that rises through all eight stories. The structure provides two apartments per floor with spacious living areas, while the top level includes a reading room and smoking area.
Antoine Courtens, a former student of Victor Horta, designed this residential building in 1928 during a period of development for luxury apartments in Brussels. The project reflected the modernization of residential neighborhoods that introduced new building techniques and design trends of the time.
The entrance hall displays polychrome marble flooring and copper pillars that show what wealthy Brussels residents valued in the 1920s. These materials and finishes reflect the desire for sophistication in a residential building of that era.
The building is positioned at Rond Point de l'Etoile with good visibility from the street for those wanting to view the architecture. Access for viewing should be arranged in advance since it is a private residential building with protected heritage status.
The most distinctive feature is the starry crown on the roof (campanile) that resembles the design of Hotel Haerens and makes the building unmistakable at Rond Point de l'Etoile. This ornamental roof design was a rare stylistic element in Belgian residential buildings of that period.
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