This year's Interiors Buildings Cities graduation studio focused on reimagining the contemporary art museum typology through the lens of M HKA in Antwerp. The process of designing a new museum building, guided by principles of anti-monumentality and a dedication to public engagement, led to a site-specific intervention revolving around the excavation of the former Zuiderdokken area. This intervention not only influenced the architectural expression, but also resonated with M HKA's anti-institutional identity.

The act of excavation serves to shape the architectural character of the museum and the park's topography, as the excavated soil is repurposed for rammed earth construction. The idea of excavation extends beyond the physical act of digging, it also encompasses the exploration of negative spaces and interstitial areas within the design. These spaces are intentionally integrated to create opportunities for art encounters, social interaction and various levels of public engagement throughout the museum experience.

Humankind has always made art. Through its appeal to the human senses, it has helped to shape the ways in which we perceive the world around us and, in its varied forms, offers a means beyond language through which we have become able to articulate our relationships with one another. Throughout the ages art and architecture were facilitators of societies’ development and transformation, of which the peak was embodied by the 19th century palaces of culture: public museums and galleries. Later, as modernity rapidly adapted the world to human needs and subsumed sublime nature within its own image, art became means of resistance. Expanding out of the studio and the gallery it moved outside, to portray and critique the relentless industrialisation against its own backdrop. Artists co-opted and adapted redundant structures left behind by the contemporary city’s rampant process of change.

The competition brief for the development of the M HKA, the contemporary art museum in Antwerp embodies many of the larger issues that arise from the forementioned shift. It emerged out of the activities of the ICC (Internationaal Cultureel Centrum), which was founded in the revolutionary spirit of the late 1960s, and had a long history of making place for itself in which an adaptation of an actual palace and an old disused office building were considered, until it finally settled in an old grain warehouse to become a full-fledged museum in 1982. The next step in its development, which is planned to move the museum into a new, purposely build location asks therefore to be consciously understood and developed. It is to be placed near the current building, as an urban figure in focus of undergoing conversion of a monumental former dock into a linear public park.

The proposal turns challenges of the competition brief: an existing building on site, the scale of the programme and limited budget into factors that generate quality. Efficiency is used to shape identity, linking to the legacy of Antwerp as a harbour city. It is a building that does not mimic the expression, but follows the logic of efficient structures for the industry. A museum that accommodates existing structure, the art, the general public, gallery visitors, and the neighbours. It creates environments, provides striking curatorial settings and versatile workspaces and does so with minimal means while fulfilling strives of the competition brief and reducing the carbon footprint. It welcomes the legacy of the M HKA as a pioneering institution that always appropriated spaces, exposes the back office to the visitors to contrast them with pristine gallery interiors, and becomes an icon by establishing its own league instead of trying to fit in. Yet it fits within the city.

This year‘s graduation studio of Interiors Building Cities focuses on the redevelopment of the M HKA (Museum van Hedendaagse Kunst Antwerpen) in Belgium. In the context of an industrial metropolis like Antwerp, museums have evolved from spaces of representation and power structures to spaces for critique. Artists have repurposed disused structures in the city, including those left behind by the contemporary city, giving rise to new forms of art and the formation of art collectives and institutions since the 1960s. These spaces now serve as platforms for the public to engage with and learn about contemporary art and its significance in our society. They showcase a diverse range of mediums, from paintings and sculptures to photography, video, installations, and performance art. Additionally, educational programs and events are offered to enhance visitors‘ understanding of the art and the creative processes behind it.

With the redevelopment and relocation project, M HKA aims to establish a Flemish museum of contemporary art on a new site in the southern part of Antwerp. While the client‘s brief emphasizes the need for static sequences of spaces and programs, it fails to address the potential for unpredictable changes and user demands. Public institutions must bring flexibility to the forefront of architectural design, particularly when dealing with so-called obsolete buildings. This perspective is evident in the new site‘s design, where the planned demolition of a former court building is the only justification given in the brief. In my graduation design, I critique this decision by proposing to retain most of the existing structure, using it as the foundation for new towers on the site.

The new design for the Flemish Museum of Contemporary Art (VMHK) endeavoured to provide a contemporary interpretation of the nineteenth and twentieth century warehouse architecture, translated into a contemporary art museum. The 'Warehouse for Art' symbolizes its role as a repository for the museum’s knowledge and art, while at the same time identifying with the genius loci of the former port identity found along the Scheldt river and its surrounding brick buildings.

This industrial character is neutral, but not as aseptic as a characterless white cube and does not lose itself in architectural caprices. Moreover, the design its flexibility makes the building adaptable for its upcoming function as a museum and the ones after, thus making it future-proof.

Simultaneously, the design questions the conventional notion of a contemporary museum, aiming to transcend its exclusive institutional character and function as a public building instead. Within this pursuit of an 'anti-museum', the warehouse exemplifies a departure from the typical museum typology. Instead it represents a typology that contemporary art museums have discovered in industrial heritage and can fit into newly constructed buildings of the twenty-first century as well.

As the institution of art has developed, systematic biases have survived because they are embedded into institutional practices. The art world remains discriminatory and the art commodified, not able to provide its full public value. While contemporary artists have tried to remove themselves and their work from the gallery, they remain unsuccessful without a new form of exhibition.

M HKA, a contemporary art museum in Antwerp, Belgium with roots in anarchitecture and the anti-museum, is moving to a new site, and with that comes the opportunity to address the art world and many points of tension within it. The institution wants to participate on an international level but keep its Flemish roots and identity. The site of their future location is also part of a larger urban transformation and the site of another building that is possible to redevelop.

When designing for M HKA, it will be important to keep these points of tension in mind. The museum appears to currently be balancing many of these dilemmas already. How will this new structure enrich the surrounding environment without gentrifying the area and further marginalizing minority communities? M HKA has the opportunity to address these issues and lay a new foundation for how a contemporary museum should operate. If done successfully, the architecture of this space could very well replace the current standard of the white cube.

The Tate Modern in London occupies a central place in the art world and in the evolving discourse of what a contemporary art museum should be and how art should be displayed. Due to its size and complexity, grasping the labyrinthine building was a daunting task. In its urban context, the Tate effect draws millions of visitors spurring development in the disadvantaged Southwark borough where it resides.2 While inside there are many ideas, processes, and programs packed into this building. Beyond the art, it also functions as a shopping mall and an electricity substation.3 Unsurprisingly, the Tate Modern was referenced in many of the readings, podcasts, and discussions in class.

M HKA museum of co-existence. This graduation project rethinks the open museum through co-existing. A public institution in today’s day and age should not only be used by regular museum visitors. According to me the institution also serves a role in the city and neighbourhood it sits in. Especially in Antwerp, a multicultural city with people from very diverse backgrounds, I envision my museum as an important place for gathering and encounter for these diverse people in the city: non-museum visitors with encounter as a first way of mutual acceptance and co-existing.This theme of “co-existing” is furthermore expanded with co-existing between humans and non-humans. My project is about creating a truly open museum: not only for humans but also for non-humans, as there is a necessity to do this. Cities are becoming more and more densified by buildings, and this means that the city’s ecosystems get disturbed with less space for insects, birds, bats and plants. Extensive research into the urban ecosystems in nature have led to strategies to invite a new, wider audience to the museum: animals and plants.
I’m creating a dialogue between park and buildings. By inviting nature, into and around the building, spaces become bio pleasant and comfortable. Two of these spaces are the Urban Living Room and Winter Garden. By doing this and using plants inside for a healthy atmosphere, I’m also able to invite non-museum visitors to the museum. Just like a living organism, the museum is flexible in its use and adapts to the changing conditions (summer/winter and day/night). During the design, the cycles of nature were a key inspiration.
The projects aims to set an example with regards to the nature inclusive design strategy and the topic of co-existing (between humans & between humans and non-humans) as these topics are two relevant and important topics which are applicable to many densified and multicultural cities in the world.

The Flemish Museum of Contemporary Art (M HKA) is an institution strongly rooted in the existing fabric and socio-political framework of Antwerp South. The museum is located on the outskirts of the city, which has undergone consistent urban development and urban planning as the city grew into one of the most diverse metropolitan areas in Europe. In this development, the Antwerp Museum of Contemporary Art gradually sought to evolve with society and make way for a larger institutional purpose that pushed the museum agenda towards a more formal and generic interpretation of art spaces and how they are interpreted in light of the current zeitgeist.

In my final project, I revisit the meaning of art presentation in relation to cultural building by reconnecting with MKHA’s historic approach of capturing the essence of conserving and presenting contemporary art, an identity and genesis of an institution that has curated its growing collection between less conventional building layout and architectural fabric.

My design proposal is based on the sustainable idea and design language of reusing existing building tissue, specifically the former courthouse building which is assigned for the new developments of the M HKA or at the time entitled: Vlaams Museum voor Hedendaagse Kunst (VMHK). A building typology that exists of two prefabricated office towers that are connected by a low-rise structural addition and entrance.

Here, the practice of preserving and exhibiting art in an anti-museum condition becomes relevant again through the presence of existing structure and building layout, which, in resemblance to the former MHKA building, reinforces this familiar identity in which exhibiting art bears the title ‘symbiosis between’ anti-museum condition and institutional purpose.

MHKA (Museum of Contemporary Art in Antwerp), is a museum established in the 1970's. Given spatial and characteristic requirements, it is seeking for an expansion and reestablishment in the wide art scene in Antwerp. The MHKA has deep roots in the city itself, including public inclusivity and how people have been experiencing art in various ways. From open public events, to temporary exhibitions, the museum centralizes itself around this ideology and wills to expand this to a greater scale. The new museum, VMHK, is a result of this will. From facilitating isolated art galleries to open forums on different levels, the museum is a place to gather, discuss, experiment and experience. With adaptable spaces that host a variety of public activities; the establishment seeks to act as a ground for inter & intra dialogues for the people, for the art and for the city. It becomes an unfiltered, common ground that embodies the institution's stance and character towards art & people.

The key idea of the project is to take an art museum as an installation that provides a series of stages that allow art to happen. The design of the museum is to some extent the curation of these stages.

The graduation project of Interior building Cities focuses on the renovation of national bank of Belgium. The current bank building is the result of a massive reconstruction project that transformed and rescaled this piece of city into an imposing, yet ultimately alienating urban environment. Due to the relocation of some of its functions and the restructuring of the bank, the National Bank decided to redefine itself. Beyond providing the bank with workspace offices, it is envisaged as a more open, permeable environment. My project focuses on a passage through the bank and to redefine the boundaries between bank and public.

The Graduation Studio of Interiors Buildings Cities (2021-2022) examines the possible future of the National Bank of Belgium, located in the city of Brussels. The Bank as a collective system has recently come under scrutiny because of the ongoing climate change and the switch from physical to digital payments.
The municipality of Brussels is working on improving the city through a slow traffic mobility plan, creating green connections and changing the economic shape in Brussels. Meanwhile, the National Bank of Belgium stands like a closed fortress at a critical point in Brussels.
In this graduation project, the National Bank of Brussels as an institution offers new terrain through the creation of a radical opening to create a connection from the lower part of Brussels to the upper part of the city and creating a new connection that contributes to a better mobility in the city.

Violence in relation to architecture is typically viewed in relation to sudden cataclysmic disruptions such as war, natural disaster, slum clearances, or attacks of some kind; or as a blatant exercise of containment such as prisons, borders, or surveillance watch towers; or perhaps in the construction of buildings via slave labor, or monuments that serve to legitimize violent authority through building facades, plazas or promenades.
This paper shifts a thinking about architecture and violence to embodied, and accumulated, slow violences that are inflicted upon bodies and social relations within an environment, over long stretches of time. A shift from moment to duration, this paper investigates what the logics embedded and inherited from specific spatial arrangements does to the inhabitant. An argument is made that violence is enacted through the built environment, through the (re) production of the maintenance of a particular system of order, that is not un- connected to singular moments of ‘violence’ but contains these moments, along with the seemingly banal, within a processual unfolding.
This is done by illustrating a case study of the creation of the urban district of the Oude Noorden in Rotterdam, as it transformed into poldered parcel plots and then to housing blocks in the late 19th century, on the periphery of a rap- idly expanding colonial port city.