Pierre Bruno Bourla (19 December 1783 – 31 December 1866) was a

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

-born Belgian

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

. He was the city architect in

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

from 1819 to 1861, and a professor of architecture at the

Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp The Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp ( nl, Koninklijke Academie voor Schone Kunsten van Antwerpen) is an art academy located in Antwerp, Belgium. It is one of the oldest of its kind in Europe. It was founded in 1663 by David Teniers the Younge ...

. His most famous work is the Royal Theatre built between 1827 and 1834, known popularly after him as the

Bourla theatre Bourla Theatre (also known as Bourlaschouwburg) is a theatre located in Antwerp that seats around 900. The building is designed in a neoclassical style on the site of the former Tapissierspand tapestry market. The theatre was designed on reques ...

. He also designed new buildings for the Antwerp Academy, built the entrance gate to the city's

botanical garden A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens, an ...

s, expanded the St. Elizabeth's hospital, restored the

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denomination ...

, and renovated the

town hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...

. He died in Antwerp in 1866, and was buried at St. Lawrence's. His body was transferred to the

Schoonselhof cemetery Schoonselhof Cemetery (''Antwerpen Schoonselhof'') is located in Hoboken, Antwerp, a suburb of Antwerp, Belgium. Schoonselhof Cemetery has an islamic and Jewish section. There is also a Commonwealth war graves plot containing the graves of ...

in 1930.

Honours

* 1846: Member of the Royal Academy of Science, Letters and Fine Arts of Belgium * 1840: Knight of the

Order of Leopold Order of Leopold may refer to: * Order of Leopold (Austria), founded in 1808 by emperor Francis I of Austria and discontinued in 1918 * Order of Leopold (Belgium), founded in 1832 by king Leopold I of Belgium * Order of Leopold II, founded in Congo ...

.Almanach royal officiel de Belgique/1841 p118

Gallery

Image:Bourla inkompoort 1826.jpg, Botanical gardens entrance gate Image:Antwerp Bourla Theatre.jpg, Bourla theatre Image:AntwerpenAcademie.JPG, Academy of Fine Arts entrance gate

References

* Alfred Willis, "Bourla, Pierre (Bruno)," '' Grove Art Online'',

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

ccessed 11 April 2008
"Bourla Theater" at A View on Cities

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bourla, Pierre Bruno 1783 births 1866 deaths Architects from Antwerp Belgian neoclassical architects Royal Academy of Fine Arts (Antwerp) faculty Members of the Royal Academy of Belgium