Paul Bellot

Paul Louis Denis Bellot (born, Paris 7 June 1876 - Montreal 5 July 1944) was a French monk and modern architect.

Biography

He became an architect in 1900 having studied at the École des Beaux-Arts. In 1902 he became a monk of the Benedictines of Solesmes. These monks were in exile in England, and Bellot began building Quarr Abbey on the Isle of Wight.

In the Netherlands Bellot designed St. Paul's Abbey, Oosterhout, for the Order. He designed several churches in the Netherlands, France, Belgium, Canada and Portugal. Most of these are built largely of concrete or brick which were his preferred materials.

Bellot was a member of L'Arche, an organisation whose goal it was to use modern materials and art for religious purposes. In Canada, where he moved in 1937, he influenced several architects (i.e. Dom Claude-Marie Côté, also a Benedictine monk, and Adrien Dufresne, a layperson)[1] and his architectural influence became known as "Bellotism".

His ideas are expounded in Propos d'un bâtisseur du Bon Dieu which was published posthumously in 1949; it is based on lectures he gave in Canada in 1934.[2]

Chief works

  • St. Paul's Abbey, Oosterhout, the Netherlands, 1906-1907
  • Quarr Abbey, Isle of Wight, 1907 to 1911.
  • At Comines the church of Saint Chrysolus was built from 1925 to 1929 in collaboration with Maurice Storez.
  • At Audincourt, the church of Notre-Dame de l'Immaculée Conception, 1932, was an early building in reinforced concrete.
  • At Solesmes Abbey, the new library, the gallery of the great cloister and the lavatorium.
  • The chapel of the seminary of Saint Louis, on the domain of Saint Hubert, Neuvy-sur-Barangeon, Cher, 1936.
  • At Suresnes in the garden city, the church of Notre-Dame de la Paix was dedicated in 1936.
  • Basilica of Saint-Joseph-des-Fins at Annecy
  • The Priory of Saint Bathilda at Vanves, between 1934 and 1936.
  • The church Nossa Senhora da Conceição in Porto, Portugal, 1939 to 1947
  • At Québec, the Abbaye Saint-Benoît-du-Lac and the completion of the exterior of the basilica of the Oratoire Saint-Joseph du Mont-Royal.

Filmography

  • François Brault and Guy L. Coté made a film about Dom Bellot at Quebec in 1987: Dom Bellot, architecte, 1876-1943.

References

  1. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2005-03-21. Retrieved 2007-12-08.
  2. ↑ Willis, Peter (1996) Dom Paul Bellot, architect and monk, and the publication of "Propos d'un bâtisseur du Bon Dieu" 1949. Newcastle upon Tyne: Elysium Press ISBN 0 904712 03 6
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