After 11 years of works, the Antwerp Museum of Fine Arts (officially Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten Antwerpen, or KMSKA for short) has reopened its doors. Mind you, in the Belgian context that time is nothing – scaffolding has surrounded the Palais de Justice in Brussels for more than 40 years – and counting.
In many ways the resulting museum is impressive – also in ways that the visitors will not see, like the art storage facility built in the place of the nuclear bunker (for art) constructed in the 1950s. The new architecture is impeccably modern, with ultra-glossy floors (above left a view from the Ensor rooms), and the old spaces have been lovingly restored with quirky details (above right and below left) to counterbalance the overpowering Rubenses and Jordaenses.
However, the design where the new building was constructed essentially into the courtyards of the old building without many connections, has created some questionable features. Except in the old part (above right), the visitor routes between floors are very limited and the space for prints and small statues feels slightly claustrofobic (below left). And the new stairs have not been created for large crowds, although architecturally beautiful (below right).
Rails, wines, worlds 