Jan van Ruysbroeck was a Flemish

Flanders

Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...

 architect

Architect

An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...

 of the early 15th century (the dates of his birth and death are unknown). His best known work was the belfry

Bell tower

A bell tower is a tower which contains one or more bells, or which is designed to hold bells, even if it has none. In the European tradition, such a tower most commonly serves as part of a church and contains church bells. When attached to a city hall or other civic building, especially in...

 of the Brussels Town Hall

Brussels Town Hall

The Town Hall of the City of Brussels is a Gothic building from the Middle Ages. It is located on the famous Grand Place in Brussels, Belgium....

 (Stadhuis or Hôtel de Ville). The Gothic

Gothic architecture

Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....

 building, which stands in the city's Grand Place

Grand Place

The Grand Place or Grote Markt is the central square of Brussels. It is surrounded by guildhalls, the city's Town Hall, and the Breadhouse . The square is the most important tourist destination and most memorable landmark in Brussels, along with the Atomium and Manneken Pis...

 (Grote Markt), is widely regarded as a masterpiece of medieval European secular architecture. It was designed by Jacob van Thienen

Jacob van Thienen

Jacob van Thienen Sidenote: Gobertingen, is a hamlet of the former municipality of Mélin that now belongs to Jodoigne , where some of the original Dutch-language placenames like Dongelberg still occur in present-day local French language...

 some time around 1402 and van Ruysbroek's tower was added between 1444-1463.

Other works by van Ruysbroeck include:

• the fountain at the Hospital of Our Lady in Oudenaarde
  Oudenaarde
  Oudenaarde is a Belgian municipality in the Flemish province of East Flanders. The municipality comprises the city of Oudenaarde proper and the towns of Bevere, Edelare, Eine, Ename, Heurne, Leupegem, Mater, Melden, Mullem, Nederename, Welden, Volkegem and a part of Ooike.From the 15th to the 18th...
  
   (1443–1445);
• the tower of the Church of Ste-Gertrude, Leuven
  Leuven
  Leuven is the capital of the province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region, Belgium...
  
  , (completed 1453);
• part of the Church of St-Peter, Anderlecht
  Anderlecht
  Anderlecht is one of the nineteen municipalities located in the Brussels-Capital Region.There are several historically and architecturally distinct districts within the Anderlecht municipality.-Pronunciation:* Dutch: * French:...
  
   (1479–1485);
• probably the towers of the St. Michael and St. Gudula Cathedral, Brussels (1470–1485).