Louis Roelandt

Louis Roelandt or Lodewijk Joseph Adriaan Roelandt with his full Dutch name, was a Belgian architect that played an important role in the evolution of Neo-Renaissance and Neo-Classical architecture in Belgium.

During the period that Belgium belonged to the First French Empire, Roelandt, who had studied at the Académie of Ghent, was selected to continue his education at the prestigious "Ecole Spéciale d'Architecture" in Paris. Like his compatriot Tilman-François Suys he was a pupil of Charles Percier and Pierre François Léonard Fontaine.

In 1818 he was appointed as architect to the city of Ghent where he would realise the majority of his future projects. Gradually Roelandt moved away from the severe Empire Style in which he had been trained, and introduced more and more Neo-Renaissance and Neo-Baroque features into his designs. He also built churches in an early Gothic Revival style, such as the Sint-Annakerk in Ghent.

Works

• Clubhouse of the "Cercle Liberal", Geraardsbergen, (1812)
• Aula Magna of Ghent University (1819–1826)
• Church, Saint-Aldegondis, in Deurle (1829, design)
• Town Hall of Aalst (1825–1830)
• "Casino" of the city of Ghent, (1835–1837) (demolished)
• Town Hall of Ninove (1836)
• "Grand Théâtre" in Ghent, (today Vlaamse Opera), a richly decorated complex containing an auditorium, concert hall, ballroom and foyer, (1840).
• Church, Our Lady, Sint-Niklaas (1844, design)
• Ballroom "La Concorde", Ghent, (1844) (demolished)
• Law Courts of Ghent (Justitiepaleis) (1836–1846)
• Aula or "Academiezaal" of the "Klein-Seminarie" (school for priests) in Sint-Truiden (1843–1846)
• Church, Our Lady, in Sint-Truiden, renovations and extensions (tower), (1847–1853)
• Church, Our Lady, in Doel (1851–1854)
• Church, Saint Anna and Saint Catherine, in Ghent (1853–1869)