Bozar is Brussels' premier arts centre — a Victor Horta-designed Art Deco complex on Mont des Arts that hosts exhibitions, concerts, cinema, and theatre in interconnected spaces that represent Horta's most ambitious and least-known building. The exterior, with its clean horizontal lines and monumental simplicity, is a departure from Horta's more famous Art Nouveau work, and the interior — a labyrinth of halls, corridors, and staircases connecting different performance and exhibition spaces — is one of the most complex cultural buildings in Europe.
The Henry Le Boeuf concert hall, the largest space in the complex, has acoustics that rival any concert hall in Europe and hosts the Belgian National Orchestra, the annual Queen Elisabeth Competition (one of the world's most prestigious classical music competitions), and touring orchestras and soloists. The exhibition halls host major temporary shows — Bozar's programme includes visual art, architecture, design, and cross-disciplinary projects that draw on the centre's unique ability to combine visual and performing arts in a single venue.
Horta designed Bozar in the 1920s as a Gesamtkunstwerk — a total work of art that would house all forms of artistic expression under one roof. The building's complexity (it occupies an entire city block and connects to several neighbouring buildings through passages and underground corridors) reflects this ambition, and getting lost in its corridors — which happens regularly, even to staff — is part of the experience. The Bozar café, in a modernist space overlooking the Mont des Arts garden, is one of the best post-exhibition gathering places in the city.
Verified Facts
Bozar was designed by Victor Horta in the 1920s
The Queen Elisabeth Competition is one of the most prestigious classical music competitions
The complex was designed as a Gesamtkunstwerk (total work of art)
The building occupies an entire city block
Get walking directions
Rue Ravenstein 23, 1000 Brussels
