Frans Smet-Verhas

Frans Smet-Verhas, born Frans Smet (Temse, 21 August 1851 – Antwerp, 20 March 1925), was a Belgian architect. He was one of the principal designers to employ Art Nouveau in Antwerp at the beginning of the twentieth century.

House of the Five Continents, Antwerp (1905), designed by Frans Smet-Verhas.

House of the Battle of Waterloo, by Frans Smet-Verhas, Antwerp, 1905.

Career

Following his marriage to Sophia Verhas, Frans Smet took the surname Smet-Verhas in 1887. His activities as an architect extended from 1880 to 1910, during which time he became one of the major architects to use Art Nouveau in Antwerp. He designed two of the most famous Art Nouveau structures in the city: the eccentric House of the Five Continents (Huis de Vijf Werelddelen), finished in 1901, and the House of the Battle of Waterloo (Huis De Slag van Waterloo), built in 1905. Before turning to Art Nouveau around 1900, he had constructed several buildings using eclectic and Flemish Renaissance-revival styles. His son Arthur Smet (1886–1974) also became an architect and later taught Renaat Braem.^[1]

Major works

All in Antwerp unless otherwise noted

• Hôtel Het Zuidkasteel, Bolivarplaats, 2 (1882), eclectic
• Post Office, Arendstraat 52 (1891), Flemish Renaissance-revival
• Group of houses "Den Overvloed en Den Ooievaar" (The Affluence and the Stork), Cogels Osylei, 3/5/7 (1896), Flemish Renaissance-revival ^[2]
• Kunstenaarswoning (House and studio) Jef Koefoed, Anselmostraat 86 (1898), eclectic
• Houses at Waterloostraat, numbers 14, 16, 18 (1901), Art Nouveau^[3]
• House of the Five Continents (Huis De Vijf Werelddelen) (1901), Art Nouveau^[4]
• Selderslachts-Clasman House (1904), Art Nouveau^[5]
• House of the Battle of Waterloo (Huis De Slag van Waterloo) (1905), Art Nouveau^[6]
• Schroyens House (1908), Art Nouveau^[7]

See also

• Art Nouveau in Antwerp
• Art Nouveau

Bibliography

• Françoise Dierkens-Aubry and Jos Vandenbreeden, Art nouveau en Belgique: Architecture et Intérieurs (Paris: Duculot, 1991).