Neutelings Riedijk Architecten, MAS museum, Antwerp

The MAS - Museum aan de Stroom - in Antwerp opened on May 17 2011 with a special initiative: an opportunity to tour the museum virtually, giving directions via computer to a real guide with a video camera, to view the works on exhibit on a path through the museum decided by the spectator and visitor.

The museum was designed by architects Neutelings Riedijk Architecten, who won an international architecture competition held in 2000.

The museum is a 60 metre tower including temporary exhibition spaces, an urban gallery, a studio, a restaurant, a coffee shop, a storage area open to the public, 4 pavilions, a plaza and a panoramic rooftop terrace offering all-round views of the city and the harbour.
Covered with Indian red stoneware on the inside and the outside, the building looks as if sculpted out of a solid block of stoneware, emptied out at a number of different points by undulating windows that allow passers-by to see into the museum and visitors to enjoy different views of the city, the harbour and the river, depending on where they are standing.

by Agnese Bifulco

Design: Neutelings Riedijk Architecten
Design of the three basic pavilions: Crepain Binst Architecture
Location: Antwerp, Belgium
Illustrations: Filip Dujardin, Sarah Blee, Bart Huysmans

www.neutelings-riedijk.com
www.mas.be