Uccle home and office of Brussels architect Simone Guillissen-Hoa now classified

The Brussels region has classified the office and personal apartment of Simone Guillissen-Hoa, announced secretary of state for urban planning and heritage Ans Persoons.

She was one of the first female architects in Belgium and a pioneering figure in her field despite being overshadowed by her male colleagues. An exhibition showcasing her award-winning work and extraordinary life is currently running at CIVA, the architecture museum and archive centre in Brussels.

Designed in 1962 and 1963, the modernist-style properties now classified as archetcitural heritage are located in a building in Rue Langeveld in Uccle.

“Long relegated to the shadow of male architects and invisible in the history of architecture, Simone Guillissen-Hoa finally finds the light in 2024,” said Persons.

"A resistance figure, a pioneer in the defence of the rights of women and women architects, Simone Guillissen-Hoa has left her mark on our collective history. Her contribution to modernist architecture is today finally recognised for its true value, she added.

Born in 1916 in Beijing to a Chinese father and Polish-Jewish mother, Guillissen-Hoa studied architecture in Belgium and was only the fourth woman ever to graduate from the reputed school La Cambre in 1938. She is the first woman to set up an office in her own name in the country.

In the 1950s, she was a member of the women's rights organisation, the Soroptimist association. Some 20 years later, she participated in the creation of the International Union of Women Architects. Its architectural style was characterised by a keen eye for detail, sober lines and the use of asymmetry. During a long career, she completed more than 50 projects, both residential and public buildings.

As a notable figure of modernism, she designed several masterpieces, including the Jambes sports centre, the villa La Quinta in Court-Saint-Etienne and the Maison de la culture in Tournai.

Photos: (main image) urban.brussels; CIVA