BOOK —
Architectuur voor Vrijetijdscultuur, which translates as ‘Architecture for Leisure’, is a book authored by Janina Gosseye, together with Hilde Heynen, André Loeckx and Leen van Molle, who co-authored the introduction. It was published in 2011 by LannooCampus (Leuven).
This book sheds light on the emergence, planning and development of leisure infrastructure in Flanders (the northern part of Belgium) during the 1960s and 1970s. In this period, growing prosperity and an expansion of social legislation ensured that every Belgian could – every week – enjoy some time away from work. To ensure that this free time was spent in a meaningful way, the government set up large-scale project to develop a fine-grained network of leisure facilities across the state. The results of this enterprise were astounding: In only two decades, nearly every Flemish town or village had its own cultural centre, swimming pool or sports centre. Architectuur voor Vrijetijdscultuur narrates the history of some of the most remarking projects (architecturally speaking) that were built in this period, and connects their architectural and urban development to Flanders’ socio-political and cultural history.
The book was formally launched on 1 April 2011 in the cultural centre of Dilbeek, which is one of the buildings discussed in the book.
Janina Gosseye, Hilde Heynen (ed.), André Loeckx, Leen Van Molle, Architectuur voor Vrijetijdscultuur: Culturele Centra, Zwembaden, Recreatiedomeinen (Leuven: LannooCampus, 2011).
Janina Gosseye 