51N4E

Buda Art Centre | artists’ ateliers . Kortrijk

51N4E . photos: © Filip Dujardin . + baunetz

The last remaining textile factory on the Buda Island -an area predestined to become the cultural heart of the city- is being transformed into studios and exhibition spaces for artists in residence.

The large volume, situated in the middle of a city block, is restructured by two main interventions.
The first action is to hollow out a big void in the center of the building, allowing daylight to penetrate deeply into the vast floors. This pentagonal void houses a public staircase, spiraling up to connect the different floors and mezzanines to a roof terrace.
The second action is to add an open air pavilion as entrance hall on the street. Built entirely in the yellow brick found back in the interior, this pavilion becomes the new, clearly distinct facade of the complex: the tip of the iceberg. The pavilion refrains itself from displaying the art on the street, but rather functions as an antechamber giving a foretaste of a bigger event inside or


Location Kortrijk, BE
Invited competition 2005
Projected completion 2011
Client City of Kortrijk
51N4E full process
Programme artists’ studios, exhibition facilities
Built surface 4.240 m²
Construction cost 2.000.000 €
Image credits 51N4E