The MAS Museum is an enormous blocky tower located near the harbor in Antwerp. Designed by Neutelings Riedijk Architects, the building houses exhibits about the history of Antwerp which progress as one ascends the building, leading ultimately to the top floor with an observation deck looking out over the city.
The architects state that each level is twisted 90 degrees from the one that preceded it, creating a vertical spiral. According to The Guardian “undulating glass,” massive stone containers and red Indian sandstone cladding are the materials comprising the tower.
Laura Barnett writes:
“It’s an idiosyncratic design that contrasts with the city’s predominant architectural styles – the traditional Flemish ziggurat roofs of the pretty historic centre and the port’s brutalist industrial sprawl. But this is exactly the point: Museum aan de Stroom (which is known as MAS and translates as Museum by the River) is intended to be a bridge between the city centre and the port.
“This is meant both literally and metaphorically: the museum is in a dockside area called Het Eilandje (the little island) sitting between the two, and it contains more than 470,000 exhibits relating to the history of Antwerp’s port and its people.”
More photographs of the museum follow.
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