Hans Hendrik van Paesschen

Hans Hendrik van Paesschen (c. 1510–1582) was a Flemish architect, based in Antwerp, who designed high-style classical buildings in many countries of Northern Europe.

Life and times While Italy had the architecture of Andrea Palladio and France that of Philibert Delorme, a contemporary of theirs, Hans Hendrik van Paesschen, was designing equally beautiful buildings in northern Europe. One of the reasons he is so little known is that in each country where he worked his name was spelled differently.

After presumably receiving his training in Italy, Paesschen established himself in Antwerp as an architect and builder, often using the sculptor Cornelis Floris de Vriendt to secure architectural commissions for him. Paesschen worked in Flanders, the Netherlands, England, Wales, north Germany, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Königsberg. It is also likely that he designed buildings in northeastern France, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, but these have so far not been identified.

In sharp contrast to the gothic and mannerist styles being used at the time in northern Europe, Paesschen often designed buildings in a pure Florentine style, but with a northern flavor. He employed arcaded and colonnaded loggias, domes, and Venetian arches on his best buildings. The majority of his buildings have been destroyed or substantially altered, so his work is known mostly through old pictures. Several generations of his descendants in the Van de Passe family were notable engravers, usually with the surname de Pas or van de Passe.

Major works attributed to Paesschen 1549ff: Triumphal gates, Antwerp and elsewhere 1559ff: Fortifications, Antwerp 1559: Fortifications, Alvsborg, Norway c.1559: Villa with dome, London c.1560: Queen's Loggia, Windsor c.1560: Duke of Brabant's Palace, Brussels c.1560: Steelyard, London 1561: Raadhuis, Antwerp 1561: Gresham House, London 1564: Hanseatenhuis, Antwerp 1564: Parts of Burghley House, England 1564: Loggia, Copthall, England 1564: Fortifications, Willemstad, the Netherlands 1565: Reformed Church, Willemstad 1565: Fortifications, Klundert, the Netherlands c.1565: Temple Bar I, London 1566: Fortifications, Bohus, Sweden 1566: Cathedral altarpiece, Lund, Sweden 1566: Royal Exchange, London 1567: Fortifications, Akershus, Norway 1567: Osterley House, England 1567: Bachegraig House, Wales 1567: Faringdon Town Hall, England 1567: Part of Theobalds, England 1568: Town Plan, Frederikstad, Norway 1568: Part of Gorhambury, England 1570: Part of Rathaus, Lubeck, Germany 1571: Selsø Castle, Denmark 1574: Part of Kronborg Castle, Denmark 1574: Part of University, Copenhagen 1576: Uraniborg, Denmark 1577: Bathhouse, Hillerod, Denmark 1577: Fadeburslangen, Hillerod 1578: Vallo Castle, Denmark 1579: 76 Stengade, Helsingor, Denmark