Book contents
- A Concise History of Belgium
- Cambridge Concise Histories
- A Concise History of Belgium
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Maps
- Acknowledgments
- Note on the Text
- Introduction
- 1 Earliest Times
- 2 The Era of the Frankish Kingdoms
- 3 The Origins of the Medieval Principalities
- 4 Unifying the Netherlands: The Burgundy–Habsburg Period (1384–1555)
- 5 The Spanish Netherlands (1555–1700/1713)
- 6 The Austrian Netherlands (c.1700–1780)
- 7 The Formation of a New Nation-State (1780s–1830)
- 8 The Consolidation of a Bourgeois Regime (1831–1880s)
- 9 The Belgian Nation-State at Its Height (1880s–1945)
- 10 The Metamorphoses of a Nation-State (from 1945 to the Present Day)
- General Conclusion
- Appendix: List of Rulers, Sovereigns and Heads of State (1419–Present) and of Governors General (1507–1794) of the Southern Low Countries and Belgium
- Further Reading
- Index
10 - The Metamorphoses of a Nation-State (from 1945 to the Present Day)
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 16 March 2023
- A Concise History of Belgium
- Cambridge Concise Histories
- A Concise History of Belgium
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Maps
- Acknowledgments
- Note on the Text
- Introduction
- 1 Earliest Times
- 2 The Era of the Frankish Kingdoms
- 3 The Origins of the Medieval Principalities
- 4 Unifying the Netherlands: The Burgundy–Habsburg Period (1384–1555)
- 5 The Spanish Netherlands (1555–1700/1713)
- 6 The Austrian Netherlands (c.1700–1780)
- 7 The Formation of a New Nation-State (1780s–1830)
- 8 The Consolidation of a Bourgeois Regime (1831–1880s)
- 9 The Belgian Nation-State at Its Height (1880s–1945)
- 10 The Metamorphoses of a Nation-State (from 1945 to the Present Day)
- General Conclusion
- Appendix: List of Rulers, Sovereigns and Heads of State (1419–Present) and of Governors General (1507–1794) of the Southern Low Countries and Belgium
- Further Reading
- Index
Summary
Among the many buildings that attract the tourist’s attention in Brussels, the Law Courts (Palais de Justice) is, one might say, the star of the show. The work of the architect Joseph Poelaert, referred to in Chapter 8, dominates the urban landscape. Its colossal size and labyrinthine structure perfectly symbolize the Kafkaesque aspects of the legal system. But this building may also inspire other metaphors. Restoration and development works have been going on for decades. Some of the scaffolding has even rusted and become impossible to dismantle; paradoxically, it has, as it were, become part of the whole. Furthermore, the functionality of this stone colossus has been called into question. Is it still adapted to current needs? Should it not be abandoned altogether?
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- Information
- A Concise History of Belgium , pp. 311 - 346Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2023