Starting this fall, we are getting ready for construction work on the new artists’ pavilion that will be inaugurated on the site of our arts center in mid-2026. As a result, our residency programmes will be temporarily suspended.
The new pavilion forms one of the pilot projects in the Green Deal Circular Building of the Flemish Government. The new residential unit will accommodate up to 26 people and reconciles collectivity with compactness.
Designers U/Define (Bruges) and Frantzen et al (Amsterdam), supported by study agencies TECH3 (techniques), Denkbar (stability), Kubiek (EPB) and landscape architect Aldrik Heirman, worked in co-creation with the Frans Masereel Centrum, Agency Facility Management and Department of Culture, Youth and Media on the redevelopment of our residential zone over the past few years.
The extraordinary result is a compact no-nonsense building, with space for creativity, intimacy and rest. A hint to the past with an openness to future memories.
Follow our progress here:
January 20, 2025
After reviewing all bids, the Facility Management Company of the Flemish Government selected the Kempen contractor Vanhout.pro. On January 20, 2025, all involved met for the first time and a preliminary planning was discussed. In March, the contractor will start with preparatory works on the site, in order to prepare the site for construction from April. During the summer, the ground slab will rise and then the new artists’ pavilion can be built layer by layer. The intention is to deliver the yard, including exterior landscaping, in the spring of 2026. Afterwards, work will begin on the interior design (and a big inauguration party). We keep our fingers crossed for as little weather delay as possible – and wish the contractor and his team a prosperous, and safe, progress!
January 13, 2025
As part of sustainable forest management, and in cooperation with Bosgroep Kempen-Noord, a large number of conifers were uprooted at the back of our site in early January. The trees will be replaced by new, native deciduous trees in March 2025.
The wood from the uprooted trees will be partially recovered for the creation of a sculpture by Wim Cuyvers as part of our brand new RHIZOMA biennial.
September 1 – November 30, 2024:
“…, een dag, een nacht, een dag, …”
This autumn, at the invitation of director Stijn Maes, five contemporary artists – Anne-Mie Van Kerckhoven, Hana Miletić, Natasja Mabesoone, Raimundas Malašauskas and Vaast Colson – are staying one last time in our A-shaped artists’ houses. Instead of a classic exhibition, we thereby initiate a discursive section with each of them, with a specific focus on the essence and potential of art.
August 2, 2024: farewell last group of residents
Today we said goodbye to the 9 artists who officially stayed in the A-shaped artists’ houses as the last group of residents: Roel Goussey, Bert Lezy, Daisy Madden-Wells, Jake Caleb, Julie Cetti, Marie Cloquet, Emile Van Helleputte, Hamza Halloubi and Robin Vermeersch. Roel Goussey was among both the first and last residents of our triangular accommodations and paid homage to architect Lou Jansen and the many artists who stayed in the A-shaped artists’ houses over the past decades with a screen-printed edition.
March 24, 2024: tribute to the A-houses
During Open Masereel, we paid tribute with a limited-scale research exhibition to the A-shaped artists’ houses that have been an essential part of the Frans Masereel Centrum since 1972. Over the past five decades, these iconic lodges, designed by Lou Jansen, have welcomed around 60 to 100 creatives and their families every year: artists, researchers, critics, academics and students found a place to create, reflect, meet and explore new artistic directions here. The individual houses were also a source of inspiration for several residents themselves. This was reflected, among others, in the works of Bertha Haak (1944-2021), which we rediscovered in our collection and presented for the first time.
April 29, 2023: presentation new pavilion
On Saturday, April 29, designers U/Define (Bruges) and Frantzen et al (Amsterdam) presented their plans for the new artists’ pavilion to local inhabitans and future residents for the first time.
Starting this fall, we are getting ready for construction work on the new artists’ pavilion that will be inaugurated on the site of our arts center in mid-2026. As a result, our residency programmes will be temporarily suspended.
The new pavilion forms one of the pilot projects in the Green Deal Circular Building of the Flemish Government. The new residential unit will accommodate up to 26 people and reconciles collectivity with compactness.
Designers U/Define (Bruges) and Frantzen et al (Amsterdam), supported by study agencies TECH3 (techniques), Denkbar (stability), Kubiek (EPB) and landscape architect Aldrik Heirman, worked in co-creation with the Frans Masereel Centrum, Agency Facility Management and Department of Culture, Youth and Media on the redevelopment of our residential zone over the past few years.
The extraordinary result is a compact no-nonsense building, with space for creativity, intimacy and rest. A hint to the past with an openness to future memories.
Follow our progress here:
January 20, 2025
After reviewing all bids, the Facility Management Company of the Flemish Government selected the Kempen contractor Vanhout.pro. On January 20, 2025, all involved met for the first time and a preliminary planning was discussed. In March, the contractor will start with preparatory works on the site, in order to prepare the site for construction from April. During the summer, the ground slab will rise and then the new artists’ pavilion can be built layer by layer. The intention is to deliver the yard, including exterior landscaping, in the spring of 2026. Afterwards, work will begin on the interior design (and a big inauguration party). We keep our fingers crossed for as little weather delay as possible – and wish the contractor and his team a prosperous, and safe, progress!
January 13, 2025
As part of sustainable forest management, and in cooperation with Bosgroep Kempen-Noord, a large number of conifers were uprooted at the back of our site in early January. The trees will be replaced by new, native deciduous trees in March 2025.
The wood from the uprooted trees will be partially recovered for the creation of a sculpture by Wim Cuyvers as part of our brand new RHIZOMA biennial.
September 1 – November 30, 2024:
“…, een dag, een nacht, een dag, …”
This autumn, at the invitation of director Stijn Maes, five contemporary artists – Anne-Mie Van Kerckhoven, Hana Miletić, Natasja Mabesoone, Raimundas Malašauskas and Vaast Colson – are staying one last time in our A-shaped artists’ houses. Instead of a classic exhibition, we thereby initiate a discursive section with each of them, with a specific focus on the essence and potential of art.
August 2, 2024: farewell last group of residents
Today we said goodbye to the 9 artists who officially stayed in the A-shaped artists’ houses as the last group of residents: Roel Goussey, Bert Lezy, Daisy Madden-Wells, Jake Caleb, Julie Cetti, Marie Cloquet, Emile Van Helleputte, Hamza Halloubi and Robin Vermeersch. Roel Goussey was among both the first and last residents of our triangular accommodations and paid homage to architect Lou Jansen and the many artists who stayed in the A-shaped artists’ houses over the past decades with a screen-printed edition.
March 24, 2024: tribute to the A-houses
During Open Masereel, we paid tribute with a limited-scale research exhibition to the A-shaped artists’ houses that have been an essential part of the Frans Masereel Centrum since 1972. Over the past five decades, these iconic lodges, designed by Lou Jansen, have welcomed around 60 to 100 creatives and their families every year: artists, researchers, critics, academics and students found a place to create, reflect, meet and explore new artistic directions here. The individual houses were also a source of inspiration for several residents themselves. This was reflected, among others, in the works of Bertha Haak (1944-2021), which we rediscovered in our collection and presented for the first time.
April 29, 2023: presentation new pavilion
On Saturday, April 29, designers U/Define (Bruges) and Frantzen et al (Amsterdam) presented their plans for the new artists’ pavilion to local inhabitans and future residents for the first time.
