User:Sam.Donvil/Michel Polak

Michel Polak
Personal information
Nationality	border|class=noviewer|20x20px|Vlag van België Belgium
Date of birth	27 January 1885
Place of birth	Mexico-City
Date of death	4 October 1948
Place of death	Brussels
Occupation	Architect
Oeuvre
Important buildings	All in Brussels: • Hotel RTT • Head office of Tractebel • Hotel Le Plaza • Residence Palace • Villa Empain

Entrance op Villa Empain

Facade of the Eastman Institute (currently House of European History)

Michel Polak (Mexico-City, 27th of January 1885 – Brussels, 4 October 1948) was a Swiss architect. From 1921 onwards he moved to Belgium, where he received his most famous commissions.

Biography

Polak grew up in Montreux. After graduating from the Polytecnic School of Zürich (1903-1907) he continued his studies at the École des Beaux Arts in Paris (1907-1911). He started to collaborate with countrymen Georges Piollenc and onwards from 1917 with Alfred Hoch. During his Swiss period (1910-1921) he mainly designed buildings in the Art nouveaustyle.

He moved his bureau to Brussels for a major commission from the real estate promotor and financer Lucien Kaisin, the luxury apartment complex, Résidence Palace. The project quickly positioned him as one of the city's premier architects, resulting in a continuous output of luxury projects during the interwar period. He mastered many architectural styles, including art deco, classicism and modernism, and was able to smoothly integrate them into a single project. He was very knowledgeable about different building materials and implemented it in his designs.

After the World War II his two sons, André en Jean Polak continued his practice.

Key projects

• Renovation of villa Henri Nestlé – Montreux (1910)
• Luxury apartment complex Riant-Château – Montreux (1911-1913)
• Temple of the National Church – Glion (1913-1915)
• Résidence Palace – Wetstraat, Brussels (1923-1926)
• Renovation of the department store Grand Bazar – Anspachlaan, Brussels (1926)
• Hotel Atlanta – Adolphe Maxlaan 3, Brussels (1924-1929)
• Head office of pharma company CIBA – Léopold Couroublestraat, Schaarbeek (1926)
• Hotel Albert I / Terminus – Rogierplein 17-21, Sint-Joost-ten-Node (1927-1928)
• Hotel Le Plaza – Adolphe Maxlaan, Brussels (1928-1932)
• Head office Electrobel – Troonplein 1-3, Brussels (1928-1929)
• Head office of Belgian branch of insurance company La Genevoise – Brussels (1929)
• Head office of the insurance company Winterthur – Brussels
• Villa Empain for Baron Louis Empain (also called Villa Roosevelt) – Franklin Rooseveltlaan 67, Brussels (1931)
• Dispensary of the Red Cross – Papenvest, Brussels (1933)
• Institute for Dentistry George Eastman – Leopoldpark, Brussels (1934)
• Residence Theo Fleischman – Hamoirlaan, Ukkel (1935 - demolished)
• Housing estate – Sint-Michielslaan, Etterbeek (1936)
• Project for competition Kunstberg (1937)
• Headquarters of the National Telegraph and Telephone Company – Paleizenstraat, Schaarbeek (1937)
• Residence of professor Auguste Piccard – Chexbres
• COOVI-campus – Anderlecht (1948)

• Benoît Schoonbroodt, Michel Polak. De l'Art Nouveau à l'Art déco, Bruxelles, Commission de l'Environnement de Bruxelles-Ouest (CEBO), 2003

Media related to Michel Polak at Wikimedia Commons

• Buildings in the Inventory of Architectural Heritage (Brussels)

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