Tim Van Laere Gallery is moving to a new art space on the Antwerp Nieuw Zuid. Designed by OFFICE Kersten Geers David Van Severen the opening is slated for spring 2019.
As an autonomous pavilion, the new building will be part of a green and sustainable urban development on the Nieuw Zuid, a Triple Living project. In it, the gallery will occupy a unique position, not only through the characteristic architecture of OFFICE Kersten Geers David Van Severen and the location within the Nieuw Zuid district but also through the function of the building. Landscape architect Bas Smets will integrate the new building project with the neighbouring square into the master plan of the district.
“It really becomes a building tailored to art and the artists. They remain the most important motivation for me, “
explains Tim Van Laere.
“I consider Tim Van Laere Gallery as a real artist gallery, where our main task is to support and facilitate artists. It is very important that the space of the gallery also fits within that story. In recent years, I noticed that the gallery had outgrown the building in the Verlatstraat. The space no longer met the ambitions of the gallery and of our artists. We have presented fantastic exhibitions in the Verlatstraat, but we feel that it is now time for the next step. This is a very important moment for the gallery.“
The new gallery should become a landmark and an anchor point in the neighbourhood. An attractive building along the central promenade that invites people to enter. It will also become an urban building, ambiguous and direct: with the gate on the street. As a concatenation of rooms, the building ‘shows’ its structure, its silhouette. This can be felt directly on the outside and inside: in the middle of Nieuw Zuid there is a building that gives space to contemporary art. A storage space, offices, a white cube, a chapel and a patio follow each other, as pure types of buildings where art can be experienced in different ways. The building makes a statement for both its immediate surroundings and inside; art is the central focal point and is immediately visible and accessible to everyone in the city.
For the new building, Tim Van Laere Gallery collaborated with the Belgian architect’s OFFICE David Van Severen and Kersten Geers. The assignment was simple: to create a building in function of art.
“An inspiring dialogue with Tim Van Laere Gallery has deepened our vision on art scenography and exhibition spaces”
, says David Van Severen and Kersten Geers.
“With the new gallery on Nieuw Zuid, Tim Van Laere Gallery shows character. The new district, a lively part of the city, needs a difficult, unruly centre: a soul. Our building is simple, and ‘in your face’. Tim’s exciting programming needs a solid background. A set of five rooms create spaces for art. The set of spaces create a silhouette on the square. “
