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Architects: Vanden Eeckhoudt - Creyf Architectes
- Area: 600 m²
- Year: 2008
Text description provided by the architects. The project was to build a mansion into an art gallery with a housing for the gallery. Due to the existing strong image of the building, the architects were challenged to provide new spaces that contained the interest of the old spaces coupled with new modern gallery spaces. The design result is a mixture of existing staircase and new neon pink lights.
Follow the break for more on the Meessen De Clercq Gallery by Vanden Eeckhoudt - Creyf Architectes.
The architects had to create a design that could maintain aspects of the original building all the while removing the idea of a mansion and providing clean modern lines with spaces that can focus on the art work the new gallery is housing.
The process begins at the entry with neon pink lighting surrounding a small old brass lantern located above the door. Inside, the remnants of the mansion are seen in the primarily central staircase, which provides a kind of hinge between the existing building and the new gallery. The rooms, completely stripped, are highlighted by a neon light custom designed so that only the work on display emerges.
At the rear, under a existing canopy, a video box has been placed levitating in space. The levitation is explained mainly by its function, it is the height of a seat and the whole is perceived as a TV bench. The housing is a "customization" of a renovation already completed some ten years.
