The Congo Museum in Tervuren. The Birth of Tile Vaulting in Belgium

The Congo Museum (known today as the Royal Museum for Central Africa) was part of a large colonial complex planned by the Belgian King Léopold II in the municipality of Tervuren, a few kilometres from Brussels. The complex was commissioned to French architect Charles-Louis Girault (1851–1932) in 1901, but only the museum was completed. This building features vaults in many of its rooms, and the main space is covered by a two-shell dome with a span of 20 m. Different types of vaults were used, but the building is remarkable for the use of tile vaults, a technique that originated in the Mediterranean region and arrived in Belgium, with no known precedents, at the beginning of the 20th century. Tile vaults are built with light bricks, placed flatwise and forming thin surfaces. Traditionally, bricks are set with plaster mortar, in order to provide a fast and cohesive bonding during the construction that allows for the construction of the vaults with no centering. This characteristic, together with the vaults’ lightness and versatility in adapting to different forms, has made tile vaulting a recurring technique over the centuries.