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Library
Opening hours
Rue de l'Ermitage 55, 1050 Brussels
Tuesday-Friday: 09:30-17:00
library@civa.brussels I T. + 32 2 642 24 64
The CIVA library has a large collection of nearly 50.000 old and recent books, hundreds of magazine titles and documentation files dedicated to architecture, urban planning, city history, landscape architecture, gardens and urban ecosystems.
The section of Modern Architecture gathers the library of the Archives d’Architecture Moderne (in Ixelles) and Sint-Lukasarchief (in Schaerbeek). The Garden, Landscape and Urban Ecosystem section gathers the collection of the René Pechère library and the documentation centre Paul Duvigneaud.
The library staff is at your disposal to help you get the most out of your research.
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Collections
This collection comprises some 30,000 works, old and recent, concerning the history of architecture and construction techniques, urban planning and urban history. It also includes many rare Belgian and foreign collections of plates, documentary files as well as an exceptional collection of journals on the subjects of architecture, urban planning and the applied arts published in the nineteenth, twentieth and twenty-first centuries, consisting of some 300 titles.
Following the incorporation of the Sint-Lukasarchief into the CIVA Foundation in 2016, the collections of the Sint-Lukasarchief library are being progressively moved and integrated within the collections of the library of the CIVA Foundation’s collection of modern architecture. This integration was completed in the first months of 2019. It is thus no longer possible to consult them in the former premises of the Sint-Lukasarchief in Schaerbeek. Please contact the CIVA Library to find out more.
This collection encompasses some 10,000 books, old and modern, on the history and practice of garden and landscape architecture. It also includes a collection of some 250 precious books, which can be consulted after prior request, as well as numerous journals on the relevant field. Built on the foundations of René Pechère’s personal library, it has been built up and updated over the years to become a model reference library on the subject in Belgium.
The collection comprises more than 3,000 books: scientific works on the subject of the environment, ecology, the natural and earth sciences, and urban ecosystems; works on how to practice environmentalism on a day-to-day basis: gardening, healthy habitat, green walks, nature guidebooks, etc; the publications of Paul Duvigneaud in their entirety; offprints, dissertations and doctoral theses. It also includes some 50 journal titles, having belonged to Paul Duvigneaud as well as several current titles.
A catalogue of the resources is available at the library. At present it is not available online. The CIVA staff is available to assist you in your research.
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Services
Research
The library staff will willingly assist you in carrying out your research. Since not all of the various online catalogues are complete yet, please contact us before your visit if you wish to have access to specific documents or to carry out a particular research to enable us to prepare the documentation.
Reproduction
A photocopier/scanner is available for you to make copies or scans of certain documents (excluding fragile documents). It is also possible to take photographs or digitize certain documents on request.
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Rules
Registration is required to have access to the reading room and to consult the documents:
| One-day registration |
2,50 € |
| Annual student registration (-26 years old) |
0 € |
| Annual student registration (26 years and +) |
5 € |
| Annual registration |
10 € |
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Consultations occur exclusively on the premises, and no loans are made.
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It is forbidden to drink, eat or smoke in the library.
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The libraries are work and study places in which silence must be respected. Telephones or similar appliances must be switched off or set to silent mode.
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Handbags, rucksacks, suitcases and other bulky items must be left in the cloakroom (secure lockers) at the entrance to the library.
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The reader undertakes to look after the documents and to handle them with the utmost care. Certain fragile documents may only be reproduced by the library staff.
