Marie-José Van Hee was awarded the fifteenth Alvar Aalto Medal

The fifteenth Alvar Aalto Medal has been awarded to Belgian architect Marie-José Van Hee, over her holistic approach to architecture. Her output covers a wide range of projects, from private houses to public spaces and cultural buildings, paying special attention to craft and showing a deep understanding of traditional or folk building methods.

Van Hee, the first woman ever to receive the medal, is already considered a pioneer for female architects in her country.

"Marie-José Van Hee’s work shows a consistently sensitive, contextual, and finely crafted approach. Her architecture is rooted in its context and the surrounding landscape – not only reflecting but contributing to a Flemish local vernacular over the course of her career. Her work is characterised by a beautifully understated command of natural materials, light and proportions, producing quiet, intimate spaces, designed around daily life.”

Jury statement.

Marie-José Van Hee, 2028. Photograph by Jef Jacobs. Courtesy of Alvar Aalto Foundation

The Alvar Aalto Medal was presented to Marie-José Van Hee at a ceremony in the University of Jyväskylä’s main building on 22.8.2024.

Marie-José Van Hee (b. 1950) graduated as an architect from Ghent’s Sint-Lucas School of Architecture in 1974. In 1990, she established her practice in Ghent – now Marie José Van Hee Architecten.

Marie-José Van Hee has received several Belgian and international awards, including the Flanders Architecture Prize 2023 and 1997, RIBA International Fellowship 2017, and was selected for the European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture – the Mies Van der Rohe Awards in 2013 and 1999.

In spring 2025 an exhibition of Marie-José Van Hee’s architecture work will open at the Museum of Finnish Architecture and Design Museum in Helsinki on 7.2.2025. The exhibition will also go at the Aalto2 Museum Centre in Jyväskylä in the following autumn.

The medal was designed by Academician Alvar Aalto and bearing the name was founded in 1967 to honour creative architecture. It can be awarded to any living person who has significantly distinguished themself creatively in the field of architecture. The Alvar Aalto Foundation, the Museum of Finnish Architecture and Design Museum, the Finnish Society of Architecture, the Association of Finnish Architects and the City of Helsinki award the internationally esteemed prize every three years.

House V-D, Gent, by Marie-José Van Hee. Photograph by Crispijn Van Sas.

House HdF, Zuidzande, by Marie-José Van Hee. Photograph by David Grandorge.

Fashion Museum “Modenatie” (1991–2003), Antwerpen, by Marie-José Van Hee. Photograph by Jan Verlinde.

Housing with 99 apartments (2015-04), by Marie-José Van Hee. Photograph by Crispijn Van Sas.

House Van Hee, Gent, by Marie-José Van Hee. Photograph by Crispijn Van Sas.

House Van Hee, Gent, by Marie-José Van Hee. Photograph by David Grandorge.

Brielpoortbrug. Deinze, Belgium, (2018-09) by Marie-José Van Hee. Photography by Crispijn Van Sas.

House De Wilde, by Marie-José Van Hee. Photograph by Crispijn Van Sas.

Housing Academiestraat, 20 ACADEMIE, Gent, by Marie-José Van Hee. Photograph by Filip Dujardin.

Marie-José Van Hee. Photograph by Maija Holma.

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Marie-José Van Hee.

Marie-José Van Hee

Marie-José Van Hee (b. 1950) graduated as an architect from Hoger Architectuur Instituut Sint-Lucas, Ghent (1968-1974). She starts working with Ghent architect FrancisSerck, freelance for landscape architect Paul Deroose in Jabbeke and Groep Planning in Brussels and Bruges while taking on her commissions. 1986 she co-founded VDVH Associés in Brussels before finally setting up a Ghent office in 1990– now Marie José Van Hee Architecten.

Van Hee was a Professor of Architectural Design at Sint-Lucas School of Architecture (1991–2015) and a Visiting Professor at ETH Zurich (2016–2017). Until 2022, she was a guest critic and lecturer at universities in Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, France and Switzerland. Van Hee’s best-known works include the Fashion Museum “Modenatie” (1999–2003) in Antwerp her own home, House Van Hee (1994–1998), House V-D (2007–2020), both in Ghent, and House HdF (2007–2011) in Zuidzande, the Netherlands. Teacher of numerous fellow architects for about half a century, creating timeless architecture by renewing traditional and vernacular building practices. With everything she drew, there was a particular focus on the proportion of space, the quality of light and the resolved detail, implementing classical elements such as the window, door, fireplace, staircase and gallery to anchor built environments at every scale.

Marie-José Van Hee has received several Belgian and international awards, including the Alvar Aalto Medal 2024, the Flanders Architecture Prize 2023 and 1997, RIBA International Fellowship 2017, and was selected for the European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture – the Mies Van der Rohe Awards in 2013 and 1999.

Published on: August 26, 2024

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