Aedes Academiarum, The Academies and their Palace

bound, 160pp, 32x25x2 cm . ISBN 9789020991956. What goes on in the palace that rises at the south-east corner of the Warande Park in Brussels, in sight of Palaces' Square? What is hiding behind the classical facade adorned with Ionic pilasters, which extends between the Royal Palace and the Prime Minister's official residence? Although situated at the heart of the executive institutions, the building does not house any governmental body but instead five Belgian academies, three French-speaking and two Dutch-speaking associations of eminent scientists, artists and authors who together represent the country?s highest academic authority. The palace became the seat of the Royal Academy of Science, Literature and Fine Arts in 1876, but at that time the famous institution and the building had already gone through an eventful history. The palace, erected between 1823 and 1829, had not been designed as an Aedes Academiarum but as a princely residence. It was built for a Dutch prince who was eager to establish himself as king in the Southern Netherlands and it was intended to concretize this ambition in tangible form. This book recounts the history of the Belgian academies and their palace. It discloses the unlikely intentions that underlay the origin of the building and traces the development of its design. It also presents the five academies housed in the palace: the Academie Royale des Sciences, des Lettres et des Beaux- Arts, the Koninklijke Vlaamse Academie voor Wetenschappen en Kunsten, the Academie Royale de Medecine, the Koninklijke Academie voor Geneeskunde, and the Academie Royale de Langue et Litterature francaises. (The Dutchlanguage counterpart of the latter, the Koninklijke Academie voor Nederlandse Taal- en Letterkunde, is based in Ghent.)