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Van Huffel, Albert
(b Ghent, 20 Jan 1877; d Brussels, 17 March 1935). Belgian architect. He came from a modest background and at first worked in a number of trades and crafts; for example, he was a painter and decorator, cabinetmaker, mason and glassworker between 1896 and 1912. His artistic horizons were greatly extended through his membership of the Kunst en Kennis circle (1895–1904), whose members sought to stimulate locally a spirit similar to that of the Arts and Crafts Movement in England among building craftsmen. His interest in the botanical work of Julius Mac Léod (1857–1919), a departmental head at the Rijksuniversiteit of Ghent, also stimulated his studies of ornament in the context of Art Nouveau, the style of the Viennese Secession and Art Deco. He received no formal architectural training but established himself as an architect and built several private town houses in Ghent. From 1912 to 1920 he was artistic director of Céline Dangotte, a furnishing company in Brussels. He then embarked on his major work, the Basilique Nationale du Sacré Coeur in Koekelberg, Brussels, a national monument begun in 1908 by the architect Pieter Langerock. Its original plan was too ambitious and in 1921 Van Huffel started work on a scaled-down version, continuing until his death. His modified design expressed the traditional forms of the basilica in the Art Deco style. The building, which was completed in 1970, demonstrates the diverse interests and professionalism of this self-trained architect. Van Huffel also taught a course on applied ornamentation at the Institut Supérieur des Arts Décoratifs in Brussels from 1927 to 1935.
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