In 1875 Pierre Tempels and G. Jottrand, two founding members of the Belgian Ligue de l’Enseignement, opened the nearly founded ‘Ecole modèle’ in the Avenue Lemonier in the center of Brussels.(N.N.,1879, kol.82-84, Pl.40-43) The construction of this ‘model school’ reveal s only one aspect of their ground-breaking plans.  In the inaugural lecture at the opening of this seminal building, the two educationalists mentioned above develop a new and overall vision on the education in Belgium at the end of the nineteenth century. In their educational project, they make room for lessons in natural sciences and technology , they anticipated on child centered education and introduced new pedagogical methods based on physical and visual education , etc. (Tempels & Jottrand, 1875, p.18/ Tempels, 1865, pp. 99-116) Tempels and Jottrand projected a radical curriculum reform and presented a clear political strategy to distribute their ideas.

In the paper I want to focus on one specific project in the center of their argument: the establishment of a network of School Museums.  As different scholars have argued before (Stafford, 1976 / Genowys & Andrei, 1992 / Lawn, 2009) the foundation of school museums was a common political-educational strategy at the end of the nineteenth century . But while the architectural project was designed and debated (Buls, 1874, pp.46-69), the architectural project itself was never realized. In the presentation I suggest to read this very detail as a symptom of a slowly disappearing educational ideal.

Primary sources - F. Narjoux (1878) Les écoles publiques. Construction et installation en Belgique et en Hollande: Documents officiels, services intérieurs et extérieurs, Bâtiments scolaires, mobilier scolaire, services annexes. Paris : Ve A. Morel et Cie, Libraires-Éditeurs, 253p. - Ministère de l’Intérieur, Lambert Blandot-Grayet (1875) Instructions concernant la construction et l'ameublement des maisons d'école suivies de plans et de devis types. Huy : Degrâce - N.N . (1879). ‘L’École Modèle’ in: L’Emulation, 5ème Année 1879, kol.82-84, Pl.40-43 - C. Buls ‘Un projet de musée populaire’ in: La Revue Belgique, mai 1874, pp.46-69 ; - P. Tempels (1865). L'instruction du peuple. Bruxelles: A. Lacroix ; - P. Tempels, M.G. Jottrand (1875) L’Ecole Modèle. Séance d’inauguration du 17 octobre 1875. Bruxelles : Alliance Typographique, M-J Poot et Cie ; - Ligue de L’Enseignement (1877) École Modèle. 1° Règlement des élèves ; 2° Circulaire du 8 août 1877; Règlement des professeurs ; 4° instructions générales aux professeurs ; 5° tableau des heures. Bruxelles : imprimerie de Ve Julien Baertsoen, 43p. Secondary sources - T. A. Markus. (1987) 'Buildings as classifying devices' in: Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design 14 (4), 467–484 - H. H. Genowys, M. A. Andrei (eds.) (1992) Museum Origins. Readings in Early museum history and philosophy. Walnut Creek: Left Coast Press - Martin Lawn (ed.) (2009). Modelling the future. Exhibitions and the materiality of education. Oxford: Symposium - B. M. Stafford. (1976) 'Arena of Virtue and Temple of Immortality: An Early Nineteenth-Century Museum Project' in: The Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians 35, 1, 21-34