MHKA: A Multi-Museum

MHKA: A Multi-Museum

Furlong, Craig (TU Delft Architecture and the Built Environment; TU Delft Architecture)

Pimlott, Mark (mentor)
Klooster, M.W. (mentor)
Thomas, A.R. (mentor)

Delft University of Technology

Architecture, Urbanism and Building Sciences

2023-06-26

As the institution of art has developed, systematic biases have survived because they are embedded into institutional practices. The art world remains discriminatory and the art commodified, not able to provide its full public value. While contemporary artists have tried to remove themselves and their work from the gallery, they remain unsuccessful without a new form of exhibition.

M HKA, a contemporary art museum in Antwerp, Belgium with roots in anarchitecture and the anti-museum, is moving to a new site, and with that comes the opportunity to address the art world and many points of tension within it. The institution wants to participate on an international level but keep its Flemish roots and identity. The site of their future location is also part of a larger urban transformation and the site of another building that is possible to redevelop.

When designing for M HKA, it will be important to keep these points of tension in mind. The museum appears to currently be balancing many of these dilemmas already. How will this new structure enrich the surrounding environment without gentrifying the area and further marginalizing minority communities? M HKA has the opportunity to address these issues and lay a new foundation for how a contemporary museum should operate. If done successfully, the architecture of this space could very well replace the current standard of the white cube.

Contemporary Art
Flemish Art
museum architecture
Antwerp

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:b1ff40f7-7fd3-4220-979e-868ada285288

51.20990, 4.38870

Student theses

master thesis

© 2023 Craig Furlong