Vooruit is one of Ghent's great monuments to the socialist cooperative movement. The organisation once ran shops, bakeries, a newspaper, a cinema, and cultural venues for the labour movement; its Sint-Pietersnieuwstraat arts centre still shows the ambition of that era in brick, iron, art nouveau curves, and art deco detail.
It is now used for concerts, theatre, and other cultural events, but the building is worth noticing even if you do not go inside. Together with the old cooperative buildings around Vrijdagsmarkt, it tells a side of Ghent's history that is less polished than the medieval towers and just as revealing.