Tilman-François Suys (in French) or Tieleman Frans Suys (in

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

) (1 July 1783 – 22 July 1864) was a Belgian architect who also worked 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 ...

Biography

Suys completed his architectural education in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, where he studied under

Charles Percier Charles Percier (; 22 August 1764 – 5 September 1838) was a neoclassical French architect, interior decorator and designer, who worked in a close partnership with Pierre François Léonard Fontaine, originally his friend from student days. Fo ...

and won the

Prix de Rome The Prix de Rome () or Grand Prix de Rome was a French scholarship for arts students, initially for painters and sculptors, that was established in 1663 during the reign of Louis XIV of France. Winners were awarded a bursary that allowed them t ...

in 1812. During his stay in Rome he became a protégé of King

William I of the Netherlands William I (Willem Frederik; 24 August 1772 – 12 December 1843) was King of the Netherlands and List of monarchs of Luxembourg, Grand Duke of Luxembourg from 1815 until his abdication in 1840. Born as the son of William V, Prince of Orange, ...

the new king of the Belgian and Dutch provinces unified in 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 ...

. In 1817 he settled in Amsterdam and worked as an architect for the Dutch Crown. In this period his style shows the marks of the

Empire style The Empire style (, ''style Empire'') is an early-nineteenth-century design movement in architecture, furniture, other decorative arts, and the visual arts, representing the second phase of Neoclassicism. It flourished between 1800 and 1815 duri ...

created for

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

by his teacher

and

Pierre François Léonard Fontaine Pierre is a masculine given name. It is a French form of the name Peter. Pierre originally meant "rock" or "stone" in French (derived from the Greek word πέτρος (''petros'') meaning "stone, rock", via Latin "petra"). It is a translation ...

. From 1825 onwards, Suys was employed on a series of royal commissions 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 ...

, a city that, together with

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

in the province of Holland, had been given the title of capital of the new established kingdom. His projects in Brussels were more severely neoclassical in character. Important creations in Brussels include the great conservatory of the

Botanical Garden A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens. is ...

, which is noted for its innovative use of iron and glass construction, as well as the

Royal Palace This is a list of royal palaces, sorted by continent. Africa Americas Asia Europe Oceania {, class="wikitable" width="95%" , - bgcolor="white" !align=center, Residence !align=center, Photo !align=center, City !align=cen ...

. After the

Belgian Revolution The Belgian Revolution (, ) was a conflict which led to the secession of the southern provinces (mainly the former Southern Netherlands) from the United Kingdom of the Netherlands and the establishment of an independent Kingdom of Belgium. The ...

, which established Belgium's independence from the Netherlands, Suys remained in Brussels. He devoted himself mainly to the restoration of the new nation's historic monuments. Some of these projects, especially his

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, 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 ...

restorations, were not historically accurate, and were later harshly criticized. His renovation (started in 1832) of the medieval Bouchout Castle at

Meise Meise () is a municipality in the province of Flemish Brabant, in the Flemish region of Belgium. The municipality comprises the towns of Meise proper and Wolvertem (a ''deelgemeente''), and several smaller villages like Sint-Brixius-Rode, Oppem, ...

, near Brussels, included not only Gothic Revival additions but also the earliest example of Flemish Renaissance Revival interior architecture in Belgium. Suys was also engaged in urban-scale projects, notably the project for the

Leopold Quarter The Leopold Quarter (; Dutch language, Dutch: ) is a Quarter (country subdivision), quarter of Brussels, Belgium. The term is sometimes confused with the Brussels and the European Union#European Quarter, European Quarter, as the area has come t ...

, commissioned to him in the 1830s and carried out in the following years. Eventually Suys continued to design other buildings in the new quarter designed by him. An example of such monumental buildings he designed later in his career is the Italianate Saint Joseph's Church (1842–1849) on the /. Suys continued to carry out commissions in the Netherlands after the revolution such as the Roman Catholic, Mozes and Aaron Church in Amsterdam, built between 1831 and 1847. From 1835 to 1861 Suys was a professor at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Brussels, where he taught almost every important Belgian architect of the younger generation such as

Hendrik Beyaert Hendrik Beyaert ( Dutch) or Henri Beyaert ( French) (29 July 1823 – 22 January 1894) was a Belgian architect. He is responsible for the designs of the Palace of the Nation, the National Bank of Belgium and Bornem Castle, among many other ...

Joseph Poelaert Joseph Poelaert (21 March 1817 – 3 November 1879) was a Belgium, Belgian architect. He was entrusted with important projects in Brussels, such as Saint Catherine's Church, Brussels, Saint Catherine's Church, the Church of Our Lady of Laeken, t ...

and

Alphonse Balat Alphonse Hubert François Balat (; 15 May 1818 – 16 September 1895) was a Belgian architect. Life Balat was born in Gochenée. He studied at the Academie of Namur and obtained his degree in architecture from the Royal Academy of Fine ...

. Through his teaching he deeply influenced later Belgian architecture in both the neoclassical and the eclectic or revivalist styles. Tilman-François Suys was the father and teacher of Léon-Pierre Suys who would also play an important role as an architect and urban planner in 19th-century Belgium.

List of works

Churches

* 1822–1826: Reconstruction (after a fire) of the Round Lutheran Church ('' Ronde Lutherse Kerk''), in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

(in collaboration with the architect Jan de Greef) * 1837–1841: St. Anthony's Church (), better known as the Moses and Aaron Church ('' Mozes en Aäronkerk''), in Amsterdam * 1842: St. Martin's Church, in

style, in

Jemeppe-sur-Sambre Jemeppe-sur-Sambre (; ) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Namur, Belgium. On 1 January 2006, the municipality had 17,990 inhabitants. The total area is , giving a population density of 384 inhabitants per km². The munici ...

* 1842–1849: Church of St. Joseph, /, in

* 1843–1844: Green Market Church () in

Haarlem Haarlem (; predecessor of ''Harlem'' in English language, English) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the Provinces of the Nether ...

* 1847–1850: St. George's Church (), in

style, in

Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...

File:Mozes en Aaronkerk 1.jpg, Moses and Aaron Church, Amsterdam (1837–1841) File:Brussel-Sint-Jozefkerk.jpg, Church of St. Joseph, Brussels (1842–1849)

Public buildings

* 1820–1829:

in Brussels * 1823–1828:

Academy Palace The Academy Palace or Palace of the Academies ( ; or ) is a Neoclassical architecture, neoclassical palace in Brussels, Belgium. It was originally built between 1823 and 1828 for William II of the Netherlands, Prince William II of Orange. No ...

, formerly the palace of the

Prince of Orange Prince of Orange (or Princess of Orange if the holder is female) is a title associated with the sovereign Principality of Orange, in what is now southern France and subsequently held by the stadtholders of, and then the heirs apparent of ...

, in Brussels. Completion of the designs of the architect . * 1829–1834: Great conservatory of the

in Brussels File:Royal Palace of Brussels Old Facade.jpg, Former façade of the

, Brussels (1820–1829) File:Brussels after the attacks (19).jpg,

, Brussels (1823–1828) File:Botanical Garden of Brussels during golden hour (DSCF8171).jpg, Great conservatory of the

, Brussels (1829–1834)

Urban design

* 1830–: Project of the new

in Brussels

Private buildings

* 1830–1836: Mariemont Castle (), in

Morlanwelz Morlanwelz (; ) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. On 1 January 2006 Morlanwelz had a total population of 18,595. The total area is 20.26 km2 which gives a population density of 918 inhabitants per km2 ...

(destroyed by fire in 1960) * 1832–: Bouchout Castle in

(restoration and rebuilding in Gothic Revival) * 1830–:

Egmont Palace The Egmont Palace (, ; ), also sometimes known as the Arenberg Palace (; ), is a neoclassical palace in Brussels, Belgium. It was originally built between 1548 and 1560 for Countess Françoise of Luxembourg and Count Lamoral of Egmont, though ...

in Brussels (extension of the left wing) File:Palais d'Egmont Egmontpaleis Brussels 2012-08 i02.JPG,

, Brussels (1830–) File:Meise JPG01.jpg, Bouchout Castle,

(1832–)

Other

* Tomb for the soprano

Maria Malibran Maria Felicia Malibran (; 24 March 1808 – 23 September 1836) was a Spanish singer who commonly sang both contralto and soprano parts, and was one of the best-known opera singers of the 19th century. Malibran was known for her stormy personality ...

in Laeken Cemetery, in Brussels File:Tombe de la Malibran.JPG, Tomb of

, Brussels

External links

Buildings of T.-F. Suys on www.belgiumview.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Suys, Tilman-Francois Flemish architects 19th-century Belgian architects Prix de Rome for architecture People from Ostend Belgian neoclassical architects Members of the Royal Academy of Belgium 1783 births 1864 deaths