Author:

Keywords:

Modern architecture, parish churches, René Van Steenbergen (1911-1995)

Abstract:

The architect René Van Steenbergen (° 1911 - 1995) was very active in the Campine area during the post-war period. His oeuvre counts not less than 800 items and covers in his diversity all programs of the post-war Welfare State. In addition to many single-family homes, he built dozens of schools, church buildings, offices, business buildings, sports complexes and hospitals. Where he used a rather traditional form of postwar after the Second World War, he evolved towards sober modernism by the early 1960s. The work of Van Steenbergen has not remained unnoticed: no less than 53 of his buildings or restorations are listed in the inventory of architectural heritage. He is also the most productive church builder of the post-war period in Flanders, but mainly built in the diocese of Antwerp. Due to this great concentration, Van Steenberg's schools, church buildings and homes have shaped the daily lives of different generations of Kempenians. This mini exhibition shows the results of the research carried out by students of the Faculty of Architecture and the Faculty of Arts of the KU Leuven, as well as Sven Sterken and Eva Weyns. The expo marks the start of a three-year trajectory around the work of Van Steenbergen, which was set up by the KU Leuven together with Ar-Tur and the Architecture Archives of the Province of Antwerp (APA).