Jean-Pierre Cluysenaar (1811–1880) was a Dutch-born architect and the founder of the Belgian Cluysenaar family of artists and architects.

Family

Cluysenaar was born in Kampen in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

as a son of Joannes Kluysenaar and Garidenia Kluysenaar, a Dutch family of architects and engineers. Jean-Pierre Cluysenaar was the father of the Cluysenaar family. His descendants became famous Belgian painters, sculptors and architects. During the

United Kingdom of the Netherlands The United Kingdom of the Netherlands is the unofficial name given to the Kingdom of the Netherlands as it existed from 1815 to 1839. The United Netherlands was created in the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars through the fusion of territories t ...

his family settled in the southern Belgian provinces.

Career

Cluysenaar studied architecture at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

under

Tilman-François Suys Tilman-François Suys (in French) or Tieleman Frans Suys (in Dutch) (1 July 1783 – 22 July 1864) was a Belgian architect who also worked in the Netherlands. Biography Suys completed his architectural education in Paris, where he studied un ...

. His teacher influenced him in his preference for the architecture of the

Italian Renaissance The Italian Renaissance ( ) was a period in History of Italy, Italian history between the 14th and 16th centuries. The period is known for the initial development of the broader Renaissance culture that spread across Western Europe and marked t ...

. Cluysenaar had a talent for business. He took the initiative for some very profitable real estate projects—such as the

Royal Saint-Hubert Galleries The Royal Saint-Hubert Galleries (; ) is an ensemble of three glazed shopping arcades in central Brussels, Belgium. It consists of the King's Gallery (; ), the Queen's Gallery (; ) and the Princes' Gallery (; ). The galleries were designed a ...

in Brussels—in which he played the double role of architect and co-financier. He also had a good reputation amongst the

Belgian nobility The Belgian nobility comprises Belgian individuals or families recognized as noble with or without a title of nobility in the Kingdom of Belgium. The Belgian constitution states that no specific privileges are attached to the nobility. History ...

and high bourgeoisie. He received many commissions for designing large town houses (so called "hôtels"), mansions and

château A château (, ; plural: châteaux) is a manor house, or palace, or residence of the lord of the manor, or a fine country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally, and still most frequently, in French-speaking re ...

x. Cluysenaar was always prepared to adapt his designs to the desires and taste of his elite patrons. The many private mansions he built greatly differ in style. He designed elegant

Palladian Palladian architecture is a European architectural style derived from the work of the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio (1508–1580). What is today recognised as Palladian architecture evolved from his concepts of symmetry, perspective and ...

villas, as well as more sturdy

neo-Gothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half of the 19th century ...

castles. His stylistic versatility is also apparent in the many public buildings he designed, such as the

neo-Renaissance Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th-century Revivalism (architecture), architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival architecture, Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival ar ...

Royal Conservatory in Brussels and the " Tudor style" railway station in Aalst.

List of works

A brief selection of the more than 200 projects in which Cluysenaar was involved:

Châteaux and other private residences

* 1844: Hôtel of baron Brugmann, /, in

* 1846: Hôtel Nagelmackers, in

Liège Liège ( ; ; ; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality of Wallonia, and the capital of the Liège Province, province of Liège, Belgium. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east o ...

* 1851:

Château A château (, ; plural: châteaux) is a manor house, or palace, or residence of the lord of the manor, or a fine country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally, and still most frequently, in French-speaking re ...

de Bavay, in

Forest A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...

* 1852–1853: Château Rey, today Town Hall of

Drogenbos Drogenbos (, ) is a municipality in the province of Flemish Brabant, in the Flemish region of Belgium. The municipality only comprises the town of Drogenbos proper. On January 1, 2018, Drogenbos had a total population of 5,599. The total area is , ...

* 1856–1858: Château of count

Ferdinand de Meeûs Ferdinand de Meeûs (1798–1861) was a Belgian banker, businessman and politician. He founded the Society for the Enlargement and Embellishment of Belgium in 1838, which attempted to promote Brussels as a capital. References 1798 births 1 ...

in Argenteuil near

Waterloo Waterloo most commonly refers to: * Battle of Waterloo, 1815 battle where Napoleon's French army was defeated by Anglo-allied and Prussian forces * Waterloo, Belgium Waterloo may also refer to: Other places Australia * Waterloo, New South Wale ...

* 1859: Mansion of the violoncellist

Adrien-François Servais Adrien-François Servais (6 June 180726 November 1866) was one of the most influential cellists of the nineteenth century. He was born and died in what is now Halle, Belgium. He is one of the founders of the Modern Cellistic Schools of Paris and ...

in Halle * 1861: Hôtels de Meeûs, / in Brussels * 1862:

De Viron Castle De Viron Castle (; ) is a castle in Dilbeek, Flemish Brabant, Belgium. It has served as the town hall of Dilbeek and offices of the municipality since 1923 and was listed as a Heritage registers in Belgium, protected monument in 1990. History Th ...

, currently Town Hall of

Dilbeek Dilbeek () is a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Provinces of Belgium, province of Flemish Brabant, in the Flemish region of Belgium. The municipality comprises the villages of Dilbeek proper, Groot-Bijgaarden, Itterbeek (with Sint-A ...

* 1864: Château of Vieux-Sart, in Corroy-le-Grand

Public buildings

* 1840: Bandstand in

Brussels Park Brussels Park ( ; or ) is the largest urban public park in central Brussels, Belgium. The park was formerly known and is still sometimes colloquially referred to as the Royal Park ( ; ). It was the city's first public park, being originally ...

* 1845–1847:

shopping arcade, in Brussels * 1846: Concert Hall in

Aachen Aachen is the List of cities in North Rhine-Westphalia by population, 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, 27th-largest city of Germany, with around 261,000 inhabitants. Aachen is locat ...

, Germany * 1847: ''Panorama de la rue Royale'' stairs and terraces surrounding the

Congress Column The Congress Column ( ; ) is a monumental column in Brussels, Belgium, commemorating the creation of the Belgian Constitution by the National Congress of 1830–31. Inspired by Trajan's Column in Rome, it was erected between 1850 and 1859, ...

, in Brussels (demolished) * 1847: Magdalena Market (/) covered market, in Brussels (partly demolished) * 1848: Bortier Gallery shopping arcade, in Brussels * 1851, 1862–1866: Theatre and "Kurhaus" in

Bad Homburg Bad Homburg vor der Höhe (, ) is the district town of the Hochtaunuskreis, Hesse, Germany, on the southern slope of the Taunus mountains. Bad Homburg is part of the Frankfurt Rhein-Main urban area. The town's official name is ''Bad Homburg ...

, Germany * Railway stations for the ''Société Dendre et Waes'' in

Ternat Ternat (; also ) is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Flemish Brabant. The municipality comprises the villages of Sint-Katherina-Lombeek, Ternat proper and Wambeek. It is also situated in the Pajottenland. On January 1, 2018 Ter ...

(1856), Aalst (1856) and Zandbergen (1860) * 1852: ''Hôpital des Aveugles'' (home for blind people), near the

Halle Gate The Halle Gate (, ; ; Brusselian: ''Allepout'') is a former medieval city gate and the last vestige of the second walls of Brussels, Belgium. Built in the 14th century, it was heavily restored in the 19th century in its current neo-Gothic st ...

, in Brussels * 1855–1862: Iron church () in Argenteuil (

) * 1872–1876: Royal Conservatory, /, in Brussels File:Galeries Royales Saint-Hubert.jpg,

, Brussels (1845–1847) File:Aalst station.JPG, Aalst railway station, Aalst (1856) File:Conservatoire royal de Bruxelles.JPG, Royal Conservatory, Brussels (1872–1876)

References

* Fanny Cluysenaar (Madame Veuve Henry Heymans), ''Les Cluysenaar: une famille d’artistes'', Brussels, Weissenbruch, 1928. {{DEFAULTSORT:Cluysenaar, Jean-Pierre 1811 births 1880 deaths Jean-Pierre People from Kampen, Overijssel 19th-century Belgian architects