On 4 December 2025, the VUB and the ULB will award honorary doctorates to remarkable cultural voices who embody, describe or imagine Brussels in an exceptional way. Musician Stromae, authors Lize Spit and Amélie Nothomb, and illustrators Ever Meulen and François Schuiten have each, in their own field, made a powerful contribution to the urban, social and cultural story of Brussels. Illustrator Ever Meulen, the ‘nom de plume’ of Eddy Vermeulen, has lived in Brussels since 1967 and explains why the city still sets his heart beating.
From the small West-Flemish town of Kuurne, where I grew up, Brussels was the big city. Everything happened there. My favourite illustrators Hergé and E.P. Jacobs lived there, as did sports heroes like Eddy Merckx and Jacky Ickx. Yet as a child I dreamed of going to Amsterdam, London or New York.
“The Atomium has become a kind of fetish for me”
I did my military service in the Géruzet barracks. I’ve never been closer to the VUB. I briefly studied at the university in Ghent, but it was clear that my ambitions didn’t lie there. I could only draw. I started my graphic design studies in Ghent and finished them in Brussels. In the late sixties, Brussels was a friendly city, easy to handle. Now it has become a true metropolis, and I’ve watched that change unfold. I still visit the centre regularly, drop by Bozar or see friends near the Grand-Place. Or I buy postcards at the art shop Plaizier.
As a child I visited the 1958 World Fair and became fascinated by the Atomium. Whenever I could, I added its silhouette to my drawings. Even now, when I’m nearby, I make a little detour. The Atomium has become a sort of fetish of mine. Brussels has always been the subject of my graphic work. A few years ago, Louis Vuitton asked me to create a carnet de voyage, a luxurious travel book. They wanted to send me somewhere exotic – Japan or Australia – faraway and expensive if needed. But I chose my own city because I want to draw what I love and what I know best. Ce n’est pas le but, they told me – it had to be a travel book – and they had to think about it for a while. In the end they agreed, and I was able to make 120 drawings of my favourite places in the city. Together with my partner Viviane, a true Brusselette, we headed out in our old Chevrolet Corvair on Sunday mornings. We visited the spots I wanted in the book: Viviane took photos, I made sketches.
“Louis Vuitton wanted to send me around the world, but I chose Brussels. I simply prefer drawing what I know and cherish”
For Louis Vuitton, Ever Meulen created a travel book devoted to Brussels
It’s mainly the architecture that inspires me. There are the beautiful social garden neighbourhoods, Floreal and Le Logis, but I also drew the Wetstraat with its chaotic traffic. The modernist architecture of the 1920s and ’30s has influenced me enormously. Brussels has many stunning examples. Like the corner building at Sterrenplein in Ixelles, the Palais de la Folle Chanson, and a bit further along the Résidence Ernestine. I’ve also drawn unusual buildings, such as the old Wiel’s brewery in Forest. And spectacular villas in Sint-Genesius-Rode, Villa Empain near the Bois de la Cambre, and the Stoclet Palace in Sint-Pieters-Woluwe. Sadly, I’ve never been able to visit that one. (In the background, we hear Viviane whispering that surely the VUB should be able to arrange that.)
