Looking at architecture in Antwerp

 

S Carlo Borromeo piazza

One of the things I most enjoy doing in a new city is exploring its architecture. Not just the old buildings, but the new stuff; and, specifically, to see the interaction of the buildings with the environment, to see how architects respond (or fail to respond) to the opportunities of the surroundings. 

Architecture, for me, is very simple. You can build something that has no relationship to the buildings and the space around it (an example is Queen’s Building, Emmanuel College, Cambridge, by Hopkins Architects). Or you can create something that works with the space, even perhaps improves the space. I shared a flat with an architecture student when I was at university and he pointed out the difference between park benches. Some benches are occupied; others, never. Quite simply, some spaces are appealing, and others are not. 

So here in Antwerp, where were the appealing spaces to sit, and who was responsible for the buildings around? 

Trying to find out what to look at proved more difficult than I expected. Standard guide books are not much use, because they tend to look at buildings in isolation, and ignore much modern work. I needed something more detailed, and by someone with some taste. I failed completely to find books with architectural walks around Antwerp on Amazon. I could download various walking guides, but they had the same problem as the guide books – not enough coverage of modern designs. 

In the end, I tracked down a book. It sounded promising: “Antwerp Architecture”, by Natasha Van de Peer. It was available in Dutch and English, and I thought it would be easy to find a copy in a local bookshop. That was not the case. Copyright, the very stylish art and architecture bookshop attached to the Museum of Fashion, claimed that it was out of print. ‘t Stadt Leest was a very impressive-looking independent bookshop with a wine bar upstairs. I managed to resist trying out the wine bar and asked them for a copy. However, they had never heard of this book. By now, I had developed such a craze for this book that I emailed the author, who stated on her website that she did guided tours of Antwerp. I did meet her, and she sold me a copy for €14. She explained that she gave most of her attention to guided walks of the city, although at €200 for two hours, this would have been a very expensive option.  

Armed with the new guide, we set off to explore Antwerp. It looked home printed, and I was slightly surprised by its size – just 150 x 105 cm. Still, it would fit in my pocket, which is certainly not true of Pevsner, and if it inspired me, the compact format wouldn’t be a problem. The contents page showed six main areas in and around Antwerp, and we started with the “Big Five” walk. As the title suggested, this walk comprised five buildings – an estimated 20 minutes. There was one other guided walk in the book, around the docks. Apart from that, many buildings were listed on maps, but with no text at all. In total, just 24 buildings have are described and have a photo, although two or three times that number are indicated on the maps. The average description, for buildings lucky enough to be described, is around 105 words, This was disappointing. If you publish the only architectural guide to Antwerp, you have the chance to be a bit more expansive than that. 

Ten buildingsshown on the map, but only three described in the text

What of the text? As far as it goes, it is fine. The English is just about acceptable, and certainly better than my Dutch, but there should be more of it. I wanted to know much more about the urban redevelopment, about the old docks and how they were being transformed (a good comparison with Glasgow and Manchester here), and to learn more about the author’s taste. But that was all I had, so I had to make the most of it. 

For what it’s worth, I did find some exquisite spaces in Antwerp where you could sit down. One was the piazza outside S Carlo Borromeo Church, a lovely space with trees and a library, and a café. I wanted to go and ask all the people sitting outside the café in the square if they realised how exquisite it was. 

The MAS Museum (2006-2011)

As for buildings, there was MAS, the amazing ten-storey construction that looked like it was built out of monster Lego bricks placed together in the most unstable and vertiginous way. It’s a great place to see all of Antwerp (although it doesn’t do much for the immediate surroundings). It also has museum collections, but we were between exhibitions, and so didn’t go in.

All in all, we found great spaces in Antwerp, but more or less independently of the guide. I recommend Antwerp as a place where there is a huge amount of redevelopment going on, but also lots of refurbishment of existing buildings. There is a buzz about the place. Well worth exploring.