Simone Guillissen-Hoa

Simone Guillissen-Hoa (7 March 1916, Peking – 30 May 1996, Brussels) was a Belgian architect. She was one of the first women architects in Belgium and the first one to build a house. After World War II, she contributed to the renewal of residential complexes. To do so, she designed several modernist houses that corresponded to the local style, in terms of the use of materials for example.

Biography She was born in Beijing. Her father was a Chinese engineer and her mother a Polish-Jewish writer. Her brother, Leon Hoa, also studied architecture and practiced in France and China. After her studies in Brussels, at the Henriette Dachsbeck high school, she joined La Cambre to study architecture and graduated in 1938. She was the fourth woman to graduate from the school in this field. Shortly thereafter, she began an internship with Charles Van Nueten, her teacher at La Cambre, but finished it in Zurich with Alfred Roth. In 1937, she married Jean Guillissen. Although she left him before the war, she continued to use his name. During World War II, as a member of the resistance, he was shot, while she was deported to the Ravensbrück concentration camp Her most published achievements date from her collaboration with Jacques Dupuis. But her work extends well beyond these 4 years. The list below includes new buildings but she also contributed to renovations and transformations of existing projects. 1955 : Villa, 13 avenue des Pavots in Kraainem. 1956 : House, 95 rue du Tomberg in Woluwe-Saint-Lambert. 1957 : Residence of Assche, 35 avenue des Lauriers in Woluwe-Saint-Pierre. 1960 : Villa "La Quinta" à la Roche Tangissart, 91 avenue des Cerisiers in Baisy-Thy. 1960 : House, 7 rue Marie Depage in Uccle. 1960 : Groupe of 2 houses, 120 route Gouvernementale in Kraainem. 1961 : Villa, 82 drève de la Fauvette in Linkebeek. 1963 : Apartment building, 21 rue Langeveld in Uccle. 1968 : Villa in Coq-sur-mer. 1971 : Group of 2 student housing buildings in Louvain-la-Neuve. 1980 : house of culture of Tournai.

In collaboration with Jacques Dupuis

1952 : Villa (now demolished), 29 avenue des Genêts in Rhode-Saint-Genèse. 1953 : City for old workers in Quaregnon. 1953 :Jewelry Degreef, 24-26 rue au Beurre in Uccle. 1953 : House Steenhout, 47 avenue Napoléon in Uccle - classified as a Brussels heritage site in 2011. 1954 : Nursery School in Frameries. 1954 : Center for the Blind and Amblyopic in Ghlin.

Awards and distinctions Simone Guillissen-Hoa received a real recognition from the critics and architects of her time. She is often the only woman mentioned in the collections of modern Belgian architecture and has won a number of awards and prizes for her works.

1939 : Awarded at the "Mobilier Type" competition in Zurich. 1942 : Awarded at the "Art et Industrie" competition. 1945 : Awarded at the Social Centre's Jette competition. 1954 : third mention ex-aequo at the prix Van de Ven. 1963 :First mention in the prix Van de Ven.