22. Lever House [HE2B – ISIB Campus]

This Italian Neo-Renaissance-style building was constructed as a private mansion by the architect J-P Cluysenaar in 1852. The mansion was subsequently extensively remodelled by the architect P. Saintenoy to adapt it to the requirements of two major companies that moved in successively: the Belgian Transatlantic Bank in 1919, followed by Lever House in 1921. The bank converted the open courtyard into a tellers’ hall, lit by a large central glass roof. Lever, for its part, transformed the building into a showcase for its commercial activities with the Belgian Congo. This building, and in particular its marble-adorned main entrance hall, thus became a sort of museum of colonial propaganda. In 1958, the building was acquired by the Belgian State, which established the Institut Supérieur Industriel de Bruxelles (ISIB) there. Listed in 2021, the building is still occupied by the ISIB but is currently the subject of a study led by the Brussels Region with a view to its repurposing, with the aim of decolonisation and fulfilling the duty to remember Belgian exploitation in the Congo.