Spring! It’s the perfect time to daydream in a place like this

💡 Name: Royal Greenhouses of Laeken 🖋 Design: Alphonse Balat 🔍 Type: Park 📅 Time: 1884-1886 📸 Photography: haus_oft ✅The Royal Greenhouses of Laeken, designed by Alphonse Balat, are an outstanding example of 19th-century Belgian architecture, located within the park of the Royal Palace of Laeken in northern Brussels. This magnificent complex of greenhouses was commissioned by King Leopold II, starting in 1874 and completed in 1905. It is one of Balat’s most iconic works. The greenhouses, built with iron and glass, cover an area of 2.5 hectares and showcase the innovation of architectural technology at the time, creating a landscape that resembles a “city of glass.” The design was inspired by the Crystal Palace in London, blending classical elements with natural motifs, heralding the rise of the Art Nouveau movement. ✅The complex includes several functional spaces, such as the Winter Garden, the Congo Greenhouse, and the Embarcadère Greenhouse, each featuring domes, arcades, and plant decorations. The Winter Garden is the central building, with a diameter of 57 meters and a height of 25 meters, housing palm trees from the Congo, symbolizing King Leopold II’s colonial power. Balat incorporated floral and plant patterns into the steel structure, laying the foundation for his student Victor Horta’s Art Nouveau style. ✅Every spring, the Royal Greenhouses of Laeken open to the public for three weeks, showcasing their architectural beauty and rich plant collection. Although Balat passed away in 1895, and the later work was taken over by Henri Maquet and Charles Girault, this “ideal glass palace” remains a gem of Belgian architectural history, a testament to his close collaboration with the king. #View #Perspective #GoodToShare #SpatialDesign #DesignInspiration #DesignAesthetics #Greenhouse #CrystalPalace #GardenDesign #LandscapeDesign