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Document Details : Title: Kursaal Oostende Subtitle: Gesamtkunstwerk van Léon Stynen uit 1953 aan de Noordzee Author(s): DEGRYSE, Els Journal: Tijdschrift voor Interieurgeschiedenis en Design Volume: 47 Date: 2025 Pages: 121-139 DOI: 10.2143/GBI.47.0.3294955 Abstract : The Kursaal in Ostend officially opened its doors on 20 June 1953. Covering an area of one hectare, it was the largest casino in Europe at the time. The building was groundbreaking, not only for its modernist architecture, but also from a technical standpoint. The building’s construction in reinforced concrete, its large spans and its aluminium windows were revolutionary for the period. The Kursaal was also the largest building in Belgium from the 1950s in which so many artists (including Paul Delvaux, Oscar Jespers, Marc Mendelson, Edgard Tytgat, Georges Grard, etc.) were involved. Architect Léon Stynen (1899-1990) was one of the most important figures in Belgium to pursue the ideal of a synthèse des arts in his projects, merging visual and applied arts to achieve a new monumentality. From the very first designs of the Kursaal, he envisioned the integration of artworks, not merely as decoration but as an essential part of the building’s overall experience. To achieve this, he often collaborated with a circle of artist friends from the Higher Institute of Decorative Arts La Cambre, where he was director at the time (1950-1965). Stynen explicitly strove to reconcile visual and applied arts and to blend them into his architecture. In the Kursaal, sculpture and murals as well as carpet weaving and ceramics were employed to give meaning to the architecture and to the unity of the building. Moreover, he did not limit his focus to the integration of art but left his mark on all of the building’s interior design. Besides the painting and decoration works, he also took on the design of the furniture, convinced as he was that the building would be ruined if the furniture and upholstery were not coordinated with the architectural design. Initially, the city of Ostend did not want to commission Stynen to supply the art and decoration, but after a long and arduous process, Stynen got his way. His project in Ostend culminated in a gesamtkunstwerk. Even though Stynen was trained as an architect, he did not make the slightest distinction between architecture and decorative arts. The impulse to reflect modern life with new designs, and to combine various art forms, was a constant in his body of work. These ambitions culminated in the Kursaal, which can be considered one of the most successful examples of artistic fusion in Belgian post-war architecture. |
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