History
Located in the heart of the Province of Hainaut, just a few kilometers from the cities of Mons and Valenciennes, Le Grand-Hornu is one of the most beautiful sites of the Industrial Revolution.
A former mining complex built between 1810 and 1830 by Henri De Gorge, a French-born industrial magnate, Grand-Hornu is a true urban development project and a unique example of functional urban planning on the European continent at the dawn of the Industrial Revolution.
Built in the neoclassical style, it comprises the coal mine’s workshops and offices, a workers’ village of some 450 houses—exceptionally comfortable for the time, each with a private garden—and the administrators’ residence, known as Château De Gorge.
The workers’ housing complex also features a school, a hospital, public squares, a library, a dance hall, and more.
To bring his ambitious dream to life, Henri De Gorge enlisted the help of the Tournai-based architect Bruno Renard. For the construction of the entire complex, he drew on the principles of communal living advocated by certain theorists and utopians of the time.
Having become a symbol of the coal industry throughout the Belgian and French regions of Hainaut, Grand-Hornu was also a remarkable technological laboratory. Henri De Gorge employed new mining techniques and new steam engines. Furthermore, in 1830, he pioneered the installation of the country’s first horse-drawn railway to support the company’s economic development.
The Grand-Hornu coal mine continued to work toward winning the “Battle for Coal,” but slowed its pace beginning in 1951, the year the ECSC (European Coal and Steel Community) Treaty was signed, which streamlined production among coal-producing countries.
The Grand-Hornu remained in operation until 1954. Industrial operations ceased, and the site was abandoned. By the late 1960s, when a handful of heritage enthusiasts fought to save the site from planned demolition, it was merely a shadow of its former self, ravaged by time and vandalism. Furthermore, in 1969, it was the subject of a Royal Decree ordering its complete demolition.
In 1971, architect Henri Guchez secured its permanent preservation by purchasing it. He began an initial phase of renovation and set up his offices there. In 1989, the Province of Hainaut began the second phase of renovation work when it purchased the site at the initiative of Claude Durieux, then Permanent Deputy.
As early as 1984, the provincial nonprofit Grand-Hornu Images had established its offices there and has since continued to pursue its threefold mission: heritage preservation, tourism, and culture. It has secured a prominent place for the Grand-Hornu among major international heritage organizations and has developed a cultural program on the site to breathe new life into it and help the public rediscover it in a new light.
The exhibitions presented by the association explore the relationship between art and industry; design, industrial design, and the applied arts play a prominent role, closely reflecting the spirit of the venue and resonating with the region’s history.
On December 1, 2014, Grand-Hornu Images became the CID—the Center for Innovation and Design at Grand-Hornu. Its mission is to promote contemporary design through a program of exhibitions and outreach activities that highlight innovation, experimental research, and the emergence of new themes and research horizons in the fields of design, architecture, and the applied arts.
Furthermore, in the early 1990s, the French Community decided to establish its future Museum of Contemporary Arts in Hornu, thereby marking the completion of the Grand-Hornu renovation. In 2002, the Museum of Contemporary Arts (MACS) opened its doors, presenting the state of international contemporary creation in all its aspects to the widest possible audience.
Once one of the jewels of Belgian industry, the Grand-Hornu site is now one of Belgium’s leading cultural venues dedicated to contemporary art. It has been given a new lease on life and welcomes a large international audience every year.