par Vanderpelen, Cécile 
Référence Archives de sciences sociales des religions, 165, page (163-183)
Publication Publié, 2014
Référence Archives de sciences sociales des religions, 165, page (163-183)
Publication Publié, 2014
Article révisé par les pairs
| Résumé : | From the analysis of the genesis and development of a garden city, Kapelleveld, located in a suburb of Brussels, the article examines the strategies initiated by 20th-century- Catholics to re-conquer urban space. Inspired by the hygienist theories developed since the 1900s, and involving the state, local authorities and private groups, this plan aimed to enable families access to adequate housing. In its initial phase during the 1920s, the project involved Catholics and socialists. Architects of the two pillars cooperated. Socialists abandoned the project in the 1930s (preferring the construction of apartment buildings). However, Catholics pursued the endeavor: their traditional urbanphobia led them to want to establish a "city in the countryside". The Kapelleveld project was built with the support of many Catholics, encouraged by the municipality, which had a Catholic majority. Religious orders joined the project and erected religious buildings. This city was invested by a utopian imaginary that inspired two novels written by the young Jean Libert : Transposition du divin (1936) and especially Capelle-aux-Champs (1937). In these Catholic novels, the garden city presents itself as an ideal microcosm marked by a sense of community close to the personalist ethos, itself inspired by the French philosopher Emmanuel Mounier. © Archives de sciences sociales des religions. |
