Hilary Lardenoye
Hilary Lardenoye O.F.M was a Franciscan brother working as an architect in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Karachi in Pakistan.
He was born Rainerius Lardenoye (Dutch Lardenoije) in Heugem on 3 April 1904 and died in Wijchen in 1991. He received his religious training under the Order of Friars Minor. In 1938 he was sent to Pakistan to work in the missions. He was later ordained a priest by the Franciscans at the age of 52.[1]
He was the author of Heaven Now? Not Churches of Stone, but Spiritual edifices in Our Souls on the relationship between architecture and spirituality.[2]
The archives of the City of Utrecht contain 386 plans drawn between 1947-1966 by Lardenoye for bungalows and a monastery in Karachi and Hyderabad.[3] A recently published book Churches of Pakistan by Safdar Ali Shah lists a number of Christians who contributed to the development and growth of Christianity in Pakistan. However, the book fails to mention that most of the Catholic churches, schools and other buildings constructed between 1939 and 1966 were designed by Lardenoye.[4] Some of the more famous buildings he designed include St. Anthony’s Church, St Patrick's High School, Karachi and St. Joseph's College (Pakistan).