Ivan van Mossevelde

Belgian architect born in Wachtebeke in Belgium in 1940

Ivan Van Mossevelde graduated from the Sint Lucas Kunsthumaniora Institute in Gent in 1962.  You could say he hit the road running with what is still recognised today for its important contribution to Belgium’s cultural heritage. The brief was to restore and renovate an old watermill and abbey and turn it into a restaurant, ultimately it became the Michelin 2*  Bellemolen Restaurant. Twenty years later, it was classified by the Ministry of Cultural Heritage as of architectural heritage in 1985.

A constant in his life has been designing homes, striking, and original, exemplified by House Matthys in Deurle, built for art collectors Roger and Hilda Matthys-Colle and House Corthals with its bold use of exposed reinforced concrete. Other standouts to consider are the Aquavia headquarters in Landegem and a modernist bungalow for Professor Henri Muller. His list of project is too long to reel off here so do click the link at the bottom to visit his website. But, in the meantime check out the Town Hall he built for the municipality of Sint-Martens-Latem in 1996.

It would not be right to characterise his work as being exclusively in Belgium and the low countries, he opened an architecture practice in Sammezzano Italy in 1985. Amongst his notable works is the reconfiguring and reinvigorating of the Lazio village of Labro, key to the design was making the village accessible to traffic. That project, ongoing for more than 20 years, breathed life into ruins with spectacular consequences – such as his 2003 House Van Roy.

For more detailed information about his projects check out  Ivan Van Mossevelde’s website