Adelbert Van de Walle
| Adelbert Van de Walle | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
11 August 1922 Oudenaarde, Belgium |
| Died | 28 June 2006 (aged 83) Ghent, Belgium |
| Nationality |
 Belgium
|
| Occupation | architect, art historian, professor at the University of Ghent |
Adelbert Van de Walle was a Flemish-Belgian architect, art historian and professor in the History of Art and Archaeology at the University of Ghent (UGent).
Van de Walle obtained successively academic degrees in Architecture, Master’s and Doctorate in the History of Art and Archaeology, specialising in the middle ages, at UGent. During his studies, his tutors in history were Prof. Dr. François-Louis Ganshof, Prof. Dr. Hans Van Werveke and Prof. Dr. Jan Dhondt. In the History of Art, he was taught by Prof. Arch. Dr. Broeder Firmin De Smidt and Prof. Dr. Jozef Duverger, Prof. Dr. Herman Bouchery and Prof. Dr. R. Roggen.
In addition, he trained in the physics and chemistry of artworks with Prof. Dr. Eng. Coremans, at UGent. He was also a scientific worker in this speciality for the official founding of the Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage in Brussels.
Even as a young architect he displayed a particular interest in the study, preservation and restoration of mediaeval and post-mediaeval heritage. Later on, he would also be active in contemporary architecture, interior design, furniture, industrial art and industrial design. In his scientific research at UGent, he specialised in mediaeval timber construction and the origins of the gothic style, both religious and secular, in Western Europe.
He is generally considered a pioneer for his earliest large-scale city centre excavation for the middle ages. For example, he took the initiative and leadership of the extensive archaeological digs at Ename (the ruins of a castrum, of the settlement church and of Ename Abbey) in 1941-1947, and at Gravensteen castle in Ghent in 1951-1954. He also developed and carried out the first large-scale mediaeval city centre research in Antwerp (Het Steen castle, 1952-1953), the Besaen huis and the former Mattestraat in 1955-1957 and the Sint-Walburgis church in 1957-1961).
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