If some words have the effect to immediately create in you a fast response of excitement, then you will understand me on this. Last Sunday, while I was preparing for the week, thinking about new discoveries and places to visit, I saw that event… the title was « Horta house accessible with … ». Can you imagine how I felt? The word « accessible » already has huge power over me but, this word applied to the Horta’s house… this was another level. Let me explain why …

When I saw the title, the only thing I had in mind was, « Horta accessible ». Why is that a big thing? Well, for those who don’t know, this house (now a museum) was designed by Victor Horta, known in Belgium as the biggest architect from the Art Nouveau movement. The house was made between 1898 and 1901. As neither he and none of his close family members was a wheelchair user, the place was made with a lot of stairs. And due to the fact that his artwork in Brussels was made between 1890 and 1952, the places he designed were not accessible.

Today, most of the public places designed by the architect are not made accessible for wheelchair users to keep the patrimony. I understand that not destroying our country’s heritage is very important, and before visiting the John Rylands Library in Manchester, http://www.library.manchester.ac.uk/rylands/visit/explore/ , I believed that it was, indeed, impossible to make this kind of buildings accessible, because that would ruin the patrimony. Well, not really… the late-Victorian Neo-Gothic Library founded by Enriqueta Augustina Rylands in memory of her husband, designed by Basil Champneys and built between 1890 and 1899 is not only partially, but completely wheelchair friendly http://www.library.manchester.ac.uk/rylands/visit/accessibility/ . I was amazed by that! As a wheelchair user, I did not think that I could visit the entire library like anyone else.

I could not believe it when we went to ask if it was possible to visit and they just showed us the lift to reach each floor. The entrance to the Library is through a modern extension that links to the Historic building. I was as excited as a kid can be when that present asked Santa Clause arrives. And let me tell you that this place is beyond my expectations.

Wait! I almost forgot… back to the Horta house event…

As I mentioned before, I was excited to see that, finally, the Horta museum was accessible, so I had to visit it. I didn’t even read much about the event, and on Monday afternoon I was on my way to Saint-Gilles, where the Horta house is. To reach the house I went to Brussels-Midi station first and then « walked » around 40 minutes from there. Normally there are public transports to go there but they are not accessible, so…

I arrived when I was starting to lose my cool because even with a power wheelchair, it is a long and tiring ride. Fortunately, the weather was good. Do you know what I saw right there at the entrance of the museum? Two doors, one with three steps and the other with one step. I was like « I can’t believe it! », then I supposed that they can always put a ramp. And, I saw a third door without any step. « Here we are… », I thought. On that closed door, you could read the schedule. It is closed on Mondays. I was like « I can’t believe that there was a mistake about the event. » and I checked one more time on Facebook. The event was indeed on October 8th, so I started to look for a way to reach them and I saw the bell put a bit too high. This situation was starting to annoy me a little. I had to wait for someone going by the street so I could ask for help to ring the bell even if it is weird to ask as it is written on the door that it is closed on Mondays.

 

After having the help to ring the bell, someone came at the door and when he saw me he seemed to know for what event I was coming for. He asked me to go to the door which has two steps. Two men brought a ramp so I could get into the museum. As I am generally an optimistic person, I thought « Well, I guess they did not want to change the front door, so it stays as Horta designed it. I am sure of that inside, they worked really hard to keep the house as maximum as originally and make it accessible. » And guess what I saw… massive stairs!

 

When I saw the stairs, I thought that maybe I was missing something. Then, I saw the chair next to the stairs and I understood it all. It would not be possible for me to visit this venue because I would have to be transferred to the chair to climb the steps. Apparently, an association asked for a day to make the Horta house accessible for people with disabilities. Therefore, the museum opened its doors on that Monday for a visit of the ground floor and the first floor only, with a tour guide who was concerned about that as wheelchair users we would damage doors or walls. She can’t be blamed for that, we were two in wheelchairs and, she is not used to be surrounded by wheelchair users as they are not visible out there because there are not many accessible places.

Members of the association kindly proposed to lift my power wheelchair to reach the first floor, but I couldn’t accept because it is dangerous.

From the association, it was a good initiative to organize that event and I hope that this kind of events will lead to making this kind of museums accessible. I hope that soon, we will stop using the name of Horta to justify the fact that a venue is inaccessible.

Have a great week and take care of your loved ones,
Petit Cyborg