SAINTENOY, Paul - b. 1862 Elsene, d. 1952 Elsene - WGA

SAINTENOY, Paul

(b. 1862 Elsene, d. 1952 Elsene)

Belgian architect, architectural historian, teacher and writer. He was familiarized with architecture at an early age by his grandfather, Jean-Pierre Cluysenaar, and his father, Gustave Saintenoy (1832-1892), also an architect. Paul Saintenoy was trained as an architect between 1881 and 1885, first at the Academie voor Schone Kunsten, Antwerp, and at the Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts, Brussels, where he was taught by Felix Laureys (1820-1897).

His early work was in a Flemish Renaissance Revival style, for example, the Delacre Pharmacy (1899), but after 1904 he chose a classicist style for several buildings, (1898) in Rue Montagne de la Cour (now Coudenberg), Brussels. In the 1890s, he also restored a 16th-century house in the nearby Ravensteinstraat, as well as part of the Hotel de Clèves-Ravenstein. He then adopted Art Nouveau for his Old England Store (1899), but after 1904 he chose a classicist style for several buildings, including several banks built in Brussels shortly before and after World War I.

As a young architect, Saintenoy was interested in archaeology and the history of architecture, and he was active as the general secretary of the Société Royale de l’Archéologie de Bruxelles. After 1910 he devoted himself primarily to teaching, research and writing on architectural history. He taught for 30 years at the Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts, Brussels, and was also active in the Académie Royale d’Archéologie de Belgique, the Académie Royale des Lettres, Sciences et Beaux-Arts de Belgique and the Commission Royale des Monuments et Sites. As a member of the latter, he played an important role in the reconstruction of Belgium after World War I.

Old England department store

The Old England department store was a large retailer in downtown Brussels, partially housed in the Art Nouveau building constructed by Paul Saintenoy, who was strongly influenced by the architecture of Victor Horta and Paul Hankar.

Using a steel superstructure, Saintenoy negotiated the rather narrow lot that sloped significantly and curved along the line of the street, designing a six-storey building that used the main fa�ade balanced around a projecting central oriel bay itself crowned by a high arched attic. The building’s expansive curtain walls of glass over the entire fa�ade maximise the influx of natural light. The octagonal oriel tower at the northwest corner of the building begins on the third floor and terminates in a lacy steel pergola that uses the structural frame of a cupola’s spire.

After Old England moved out in 1972, the building was bought by the Belgian government. By 2009, a thorough restoration was completed. The building is one of the best examples of the Art Nouveau style in Brussels; it houses today the Musical Instruments Museum.

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Pharmacie Charles Delacre

This Neo-Gothic, Neo-Renaissance building was built for the pharmacist Charles Delacre. The pharmacist became rich and famous in 1870 when he started selling chocolate for its alleged therapeutic virtues. His company quickly grew to become one of the major Belgian chocolatiers and biscuits producers.

This former pharmacy has now turned into an art gallery that fully respects its magnificent interior architecture.

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