Revisiting Louis Roelandt’s Aula Academica: Interior Decoration and Visitor Experience in Early 19th-Century Belgian Architecture

Since the inauguration of the Aula Academica in Ghent in 1826, its grand proportions and lavish decoration have impressed visitors. An examplar of tasteful, neoclassical architecture, the university building soon joined the list of Belgium’s canonical buildings. The Aula was the first commission of Louis Roelandt (1786–1864), a promising architect who had just returned from training in Paris at the École spéciale d’architecture under Charles Percier and Pierre-François-Léonard Fontaine. Through a detailed analysis of the design process, this article examines how Roelandt’s design forms part of... Mehr ...