Antoine Varlet

Antoine Varlet (/ˈvɑːrlət/, 1 August 1893 – 17 November 1940) was a Belgian architect. He specialised in luxury apartment buildings in Beaux-Arts[1] and later Art Deco[2] styles.

Antoine Varlet
Born
Antoine Joseph Varlet

1 August 1893
Grivegnée
Died17 November 1940
Ixelles
NationalityBelgian
OccupationArchitect
Signature

Biography

Antoine Varlet was, with Michel Polak [fr] and Sta Jasinski [fr], one of the pioneers of apartment building construction in Brussels.

His name appeared for the first time in the Brussels landscape in 1923 for an industrial complex at 42, rue de la Gare in Etterbeek,[3] in collaboration with his brother, architect W. Varlet.[4] Still in 1923, they renovated a neoclassical together at 27, rue de l'Est.[5]

In 1927, he signs his first apartment building at 110, avenue de Tervueren.[6]

He was follower, like his colleague Pierre De Groef [fr], of the Beaux-Arts style in the middle of the Art Deco era. However, he quickly turned from 1929 onwards to an Art Deco style mixed with elements of Beaux-Arts style. As he died young and did not participate after the war in the blossoming of apartment buildings, his work, which marks the Brussels landscape, has not yet been the subject of an in-depth study.

His specialty was makings buildings at street corners which give a wider perspective. A practice which has served as a precedent for many architects in Brussels since then.[7]

Art Deco era
  • Building at 110 avenue de Tervueren.
  • Building at 8-9, Schuman roundabout. (1928).
  • Beaux-Arts ornement on the building on Schuman roundabout.
  • Avenue de Cortenbergh 43, at the corner with avenue de la Renaissance 1.
  • Building on avenue de la Renaissance.

Beaux-Arts era

Starting in 1929, his style becomes influenced by the then dominant Art Deco style, while still keeping many Beaux-Arts elements in his works : red or orange brick facades, bordered with white stones, forged iron doors, decorative low and high reliefs, which help mitigate a coldness that is sometimes found in Art Deco buildings. He thus created his own mix of styles.

  • 1929 : avenue de l'Hippodrome 1, corner with avenue des Klauwaerts 2, immeuble à appartements
  • 1930 : avenue Franklin Roosevelt 82–84, corner with avenue de l'Orée, Art Deco style[2]
  • 1931 : avenue Franklin Roosevelt 110, corner with avenue des Scarabées, Art Deco style[9]
  • 1933 : avenue Louise 105, corner with rue Blanche, Art Deco style[10]
  • 1934 : avenue Louise 142[6]
  • 1935 : avenue de la Toison d'Or 66-66a, Art Deco style[11]
  • Rue de la Loi 83[6]
  • 110 avenue Franklin Roosevelt
  • 82-84 avenue Franklin Roosevelt
  • Door of 82-84 avenue Franklin Roosevelt
  • Balcony of 82-84 avenue Franklin Roosevelt

See also

References
  1. "Bruxelles Extension Est - Avenue de Cortenberg 43 - Avenue de la Renaissance 1 - VARLET A." www.irismonument.be. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
  2. "Bruxelles Extension Sud - Avenue Franklin Roosevelt 82, 84 - VARLET A." www.irismonument.be. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
  3. "Etterbeek - Rue de la Gare". www.irismonument.be. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
  4. This architect W. Varlet was also active in Liège where he built a house at n° 99, boulevard Émile de Laveleye.
  5. "Schaerbeek - Rue de l'Est 27, 27a". www.irismonument.be. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
  6. Catalogue of buildings by architect A. Varlet, Ern. Thill, Brussels, 1936
  7. Isabelle Douillet and Cécile Schaack, « L’avenue Franklin Roosevelt et le quartier du Solbosch : Considérations historiques, urbanistiques et architecturales », Inventaire du Patrimoine architectural, Bruxelles-Extensions Sud, 2006-2007.
  8. "Architecte / Maître d'œuvre : A. Varlet". www.pss-archi.eu. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
  9. "Bruxelles Extension Sud - Avenue Franklin Roosevelt 110 - VARLET A." www.irismonument.be. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
  10. "Bruxelles Extension Sud - Avenue Louise 105 - VARLET A." www.irismonument.be. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
  11. "Saint-Gilles - Avenue de la Toison d'Or 66-66a - VARLET A." www.irismonument.be. Retrieved 15 May 2020.

Further reading
  • « Quelques immeubles de l'architecte A. Varlet », in : Perspectives, 1, 1937, pp.44-46.
  • Clarté, mensuel, n°11, Brussels, 1936, p. 11.
  • Catalogue of buildings by architect A. Varlet, Ern. Thill, Brussels, 1936. Read online.
  • Isabelle Douillet and Cécile Schaack, « L’avenue Franklin Roosevelt et le quartier du Solbosch : Considérations historiques, urbanistiques et architecturales », Inventaire du Patrimoine architectural, Bruxelles-Extensions Sud, 2006-2007. Read online.
  • Isabelle Douillet and Cécile Schaack, « L’avenue Louise et les rues adjacentes : Considérations historiques, urbanistiques et architecturales », Inventaire du Patrimoine architectural, Bruxelles-Extensions Sud, 2006-2007. Read online.
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