Zuid, Antwerp
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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The South of Antwerp (Zuid), is the cultural heart of the city. Revived in the mid-1980s, it is a beautiful district with many Art Nouveau style buildings such as the Rudolf Steiner school on Volkstraat, art galleries and museums and trendy cafes, restaurants and shops. Its gentrification started in the 1980s, reached it apotheosis with the Justitiepaleis.
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History
Antwerpen Zuid (Antwerp South) came into being as a distinct district with the demolition of the Citadel or Zuidkasteel, which was originally built by the Spanish occupier. Demolition works were started in 1874. The street plan designed by Theodoor van Bever was approved by Royal Decree in 1875. It is said to have been inspired by Baron Haussmann, giving rise to the nickname “Le Petit Paris”. Work was started on the excavation of the Zuiderdokken (Southern Docks) in the same year. The area was developed over the next 25 years, with most of the major public buildings being completed in the final decade of the century. Landmarks in the history of the district include:
- two World Fairs, held respectively in 1885 and 1894. See Antwerp World Fairs
- the completion of the Museum of Fine Art (KMSKA)
- the completion of the “Dutch” Synagogue in the Bouwmeestersstraat in 1893
- the opening of the Parein biscuit factory in the Brusselsestraat in 1894
- the completion of the St. Michiels church (Amerikalei) in 1897
- the completion of the buildings of the State Commercial College (Handelshogeschool) (Schildersstraat) likewise in 1897 and now occupied by the Higher Institute for Translators and Interpreters
- the opening of the South Station in 1898.
The Petit Paris cachet, the agreeable street plan, its monuments and cultural attractions made “het Zuid” or “Le Midi” a fashionable place to live until the Second World War. During the war the area sustained considerable V bomb damage, with the first bomb to hit Antwerp landing on the corner of the Schildersstraat and the Leopold De Waelplaats.
After the war the area went into a long period of decline. Probable reasons include the flight to the suburbs, the decline of the Southern Docks, and the closure of the South Station, with the latter being demolished in 1965.
The low rents made the area attractive to both immigrants and those seeking a bohemian lifestyle. The rock bottom prices, for example, made it possible for Anny De Dekker to open the “Wide White Space Gallery” (1966-1976) on the ground floor of “Het Bootje”, an architecturally eclectic house on the corner of Schildersstraat and Plaatsnijdersstraat, and now a listed monument.
The Southern Docks were filled in 1968 and 1969, and became parking space. A new building for the Court of Appeals was built on the former access to these docks. This and the demolition of the Hippodrome in 1972 sealed the fate of “het Zuid” as a forgotten area of town with only a certain faded charm to offer.
Eventually the fundamentally good quality of the housing stock combined with the area’s inherent attractions, changing attitudes toward urban living, and the impetus provided by International Rubens year in 1977, which brought hundreds of visitors to South Antwerp, led to a revival in fortunes.
Museums
Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten Antwerpen, MuKHA (Museum van Hedendaagse Kunst Antwerpen) and Fotomuseum.
Monuments
Several of the area's squares are graced with public monuments. These include a statue on the Marnixplaats, a fountain on the Lambermontplaats, and a statue on the Baron Dhanislei. Of more general interest, however, is the "Waterpoort" (Water Gate), based on a design by Rubens, that now stands on the Sint-Gillisplaats.
Arts' Centres
In 1987 the left-leaning theatre company "De Internationale Nieuwe Scene" moved into the derelict "Zuiderpershuis". Since then this former provider of hydraulic power for the lock gates of the Zuiderdokken has become an important centre for the arts.
As its name might suggest De Monty was formerly a local cinema and parish hall. It is now a venue for numerous travelling companies and groups of all kinds.
't Raamtheater shares part of the large complex of buildings occupied by the Hoger Instituut van Vertalers en Tolken, the language department of Hogeschool Antwerpen.
Innovation, business and new development
Once the Southern Docks fell into disuse (see above) the attraction of the area as a location for industrial and semi-industrial activities declined. This combined with strict zoning laws resulted in virtually all the many small workshops and warehousing operations around the docks and elsewhere in the area having to shut down or relocate.
Apart from existing attractions such as the inherently good housing stock and agreeable street plan, an important new factor in the new elan of the district has been the availability of land for development. This has come from the demolition or conversion of industrial and semi-industrial buildings, the abandonment and/or redevelopment of buildings such as the former Hippodrome, and the demolition of the South Station. But although much has been promised no final decision on the derelict marshalling yards on the southern edge of the district has yet been taken.
At present the district is served by a single supermarket on the ground floor of the redeveloped Hippodrome site. Another supermarket is to open in 2008. The most spectacular new development so far though is the large law courts complex on the former South Station site. This award-winning project, designed by the Richard Rogers Partnership, in association with VKStudio and Ove Arup & Partners, opened in 2007.
The presence of this new complex has encouraged lawyers, and various support services to seek premises nearby.
Finally, a number of IT start-ups have been attracted by the area's fashionable image in recent years. Whether the trading atmosphere will prove to be congenial in the longer term remains to be seen.
