1 December 2023 Articles

Restoration of Room Broden

More than 90 years after it was first inaugurated, we are getting as close as possible to the room's authentic décor.

The central part of the main building has two gutters, as new floors were added in the 1980s. During the renovation, the original architectural exterior elements were preserved.

Expansion

At a first glance at the ITM building, you wouldn't guess that it had been extensively modified throughout the 20th century.

In the 1960s, a floor was built on top of the clinic to house an operating room. The central part of the main building was completely rebuilt for laboratories.

In the 1980s, two floors were added to house the new library.

Room Broden in the 1980s

The library is bursting at the seams

Until then, Hall Broden was used as ITM's library. With the growing collection of books and modifications to the building, the hall had become almost unrecognisable.

The space was full of bookcases. The original art-deco light fittings had been removed and replaced by chandeliers amateurishly connected with electric cables.

A staircase had been added in the corner of Room Broden to reach the upper floor, which had not been directly accessible since the 1960s renovations.

Room Broden in 2002

First restoration

Under the leadership of general manager Marc Van Boven, the room was given a thorough overhaul in the early 1990s.

The improvised staircase was removed and the original Art Deco light fittings were dug up from the basement.

As the hall would from now on be used as a meeting room, the built-in bookcases with sliding glass doors were hidden behind white panels to improve the acoustics.

Room Broden in 2024

Restoration

Today, we aim to restore the original furnishings of ITM as much as possible.

That is why we decided to uncover the built-in bookcases. Since most of the sliding doors were not recovered, we decided to leave the books open in the cupboards.

We also put back the original library tables that had been moved to another room in the 1990s.

Room Broden is currently filled with, among other things, bundled scientific journals that are no longer frequently consulted but have historical and scientific value. This allows us to combine the original function of the room with that of a meeting room.

ITM Heritage Fund

Would you like to support the ITM Heritage Fund? Your donation will allow us to restore, conserve and digitise ITM's historical collection of movable and immovable heritage.

Support the ITM Heritage Fund

Alphonse Broden, Belgian pioneer in tropical medicine

Who was Broden?

Alphonse Broden was born on 10 September 1875. After studying medicine at the University of Leuven and specialising in Berlin and Rome, he headed the laboratory in Leopoldville.

Despite serious health problems that forced him to repatriate in 1911, Broden made important contributions to the study of sleeping sickness and other tropical diseases.

He worked mainly alone for five years, but later collaborated with Dr Jerome Rodhain, resulting in some 60 scientific contributions, including the discovery of Trypanosoma congolense and the development of a treatment for rectal or bladder bilious harziosis. He also trained Congolese microscopists and used mission networks to fight diseases.

When taking over Congo Free State, the Ministry of Colonies appointed him as medical inspector. In 1919, he was confirmed in the position of director of the School of Tropical Disease. He would continue in that role until his death on 10 December 1929.

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