History

Jeanne Belvaux and Charles Vandenhove married in 1957. In 1958, having brought to an end the ten-year collaboration with his fellow student Lucien Kroll, Charles Vandenhove decided to set up his own architectural practice. This practice would go on to enjoy six decades of intense activity and creativity. A total of around a hundred architects and draughtsmen would work at the practice, including such prominent figures as Bruno Albert, Jacques Sequaris, Prudent De Wispelaere and Philippe Vander Maren. During this exceptional career, the couple – both enthusiasts of contemporary art – amassed a collection of over 300 works. Close collaborations developed with certain artists, including Sol LeWitt, Daniel Buren, Olivier Debré, François Hers, Léon Wuidar, Patrick Corillon and Jean-Pierre Pincemin. Keen to preserve and promote these works, the couple established the charitable foundation ‘Fondation Jeanne et Charles Vandenhove’ in 2004. After considering and attempting to house their entire collection in a single venue in Liège, Charles Vandenhove signed an agreement in 2006 with the Provincial Museum of Dutch Limburg, the Bonnefantenmuseum – spearheaded by its Director, Alexandre van Grevenstein – which was due to expire after ten years. During this period, several exhibitions were organised in a gallery of the museum dedicated to the Jeanne & Charles Vandenhove Foundation’s collection. At the same time, several books on Charles Vandenhove’s work were co-published. Jeanne Belvaux dies in 2007.

In 2011, the Foundation’s board of directors amended the Foundation’s articles of association to include the provision that it may support aid for the most disadvantaged in all its forms. Charles Vandenhove decided to bequeath almost the entire art collection to Ghent University in 2012. Responsibility for this was entrusted to Bart Verschaffel, a philosopher, author and professor emeritus in the Department of Architecture and Urban Planning. With Vandenhove -UGent, designed to house this collection and situated at the foot of Henry van de Velde’s Boekentoren, Charles Vandenhove would design his final project. Following the architect’s death in 2019, the Jeanne & Charles Vandenhove Foundation was established as the sole beneficiary of the other collections, as well as of the Torrentius House, which became the Foundation’s headquarters. Its board of directors comprises six members, including its Chairman, Prudent De Wispelaere, Charles Vandenhove’s principal architect and partner, and its Secretary-General, Nadia Ghizzardi, an interior designer and long-standing collaborator at the practice, who work on a daily basis to showcase, in the most vibrant way possible, the entire collection of plans, drawings, sketches, photographs (both personal and professional), furniture, models, works of art, correspondence and the library of art and architecture books. Cultural events and collaborations with other organisations (archive centres, museums, etc.) are being planned in various forms, both on-site and off-site, some of which have already taken place at the Civa in Brussels, the VAI in Antwerp, the Jewish Museum in Brussels, the Vandenhove Pavilion and the Design Museum in Ghent. The library has been catalogued in collaboration with the GAR-Archives d’architecture. This will be followed by the long-term processing and cataloguing of the archives with a view to making them accessible to students, academics, researchers, architects, teachers, historians and others. The Foundation also provides support to the clients of buildings designed by Charles Vandenhove.