The annual Heritage Days will once again open several iconic heritage sites in Brussels to the general public on 20-21 September 2025.
On Thursday, the programme of the 37th edition of Heritage Days was unveiled. This year’s theme will be "Art Deco, Roaring Twenties, Crash Years".
The event highlights a wide range of exceptional heritage from a unique thematic angle. The event gives free and excly access to places usually closed to the general public.
The programme was unveiled in the presence of City of Brussels State Secretary for Heritage, Ans Persoons (Vooruit), alongside Deputy Director General of Urban.Brussels Sarah Lagrillière and Paul Dujardin, Curator of the Art Deco Year 2025.
This year's program offers Brussels residents, Belgians and international visitors 217 different activities, including 194 dedicated specifically to Art Deco, including exhibitions, screenings, conferences, workshops, walks and guided or self-guided tours of buildings emblematic in all 19 municipalities.
Inside Forest's Art Deco gem of a municipal hall. Credit: Urban Brussels
In total, nearly 84 Art Deco buildings will be open to the general public, 72 guided tours, 45 open-door self-guided tours, 15 exhibitions, 69 urban walks or bike rides which will be available to discover throughout Brussels.
Highlights include the Maison de la Radio Flagey, the Jardins van Buuren, the National Basilica in Koekelberg, the Villa Empain-Fondation Boghossian, BOZAR, the Wiels, the Forest Municipal House and the Residence Palace.
Best kept secrets
Locations usually closed to the public include some of Brussels' best-kept architectural secrets, including the Hôtel Riez, the Maison Pelgrims, the Queen Elisabeth Medical Foundation, the workshops of La Monnaie and the house of architect Henry Lacoste.
"Heritage only has meaning if it is shared. With these Heritage Days 2025 placed under the sign of Art Deco, we celebrate our heritage and affirm that it is a common good, accessible to all, beyond walls and eras," stated Ans Persoons, Brussels Secretary of State for Urban Planning and Heritage.
"It lives, makes us proud and contributes to our Brussels identity. Rediscovering Art Deco means not only admiring its aesthetic, but also understanding the aspirations of a changing society and the challenges of troubled times that still resonate today," Persoons continued.
Wiels. Credit: Julien Hayard
A number of private residences will exceptionally open their doors to the public, including the Maison de Verre, Villa Vandevelde, Maison Homem de Macédo, Maison Herrero, Maison Dotremont and several houses designed by architect Louis Tenaerts.
Finally, through guided tours, urban walks or bike rides, the general public will be able to rediscover many Brussels neighbourhoods such as the Canal, Maritime, Dansaert and Louise districts, as well as various garden cities and neighbourhoods in Uccle, Forest, Ixelles, Anderlecht, Schaerbeek, etc., through the prism of the Art Deco theme.
"Art Deco may have been progressive, but it remained faithful to craftsmanship and the human scale. It reconciled modern comfort with classical influences and monumental beauty," says Sarah Lagrillière, Deputy Director General of Urban.Brussels.
"It is this duality – between past and future – that makes Art Deco still relevant today. Modernity, a key concept of this style, is therefore the guiding principle of our programme for 2025."
