Braempaviljoen

The Braempaviljoen stands within Middelheim Museum’s open-air sculpture park in Antwerp, surrounded by trees, paths and artworks. Renaat Braem designed the exhibition pavilion to bring architecture, nature and sculpture into one setting. Its curved roof catches sunlight and spreads it across the interior for even illumination.

The city council commissioned a permanent building in 1962, after Braem had created a temporary biennale pavilion. Construction began in 1969, and the pavilion opened during the 1971 sculpture biennale. The planned expansion never followed, leaving the completed structure as the realized part of a larger vision.

Curved arches rise above waterspouts shaped like ascending seagulls, while vertical windows serve sculptures needing carefully directed light. Small wall niches hold smaller works, and a curved entrance wall guides you into the building. Afzelia woodwork and safety glass formed part of restoration work in 2013, following repairs to leaking skylights. A small pond with Olivier Strebelle’s fountain remains beside the pavilion, one of the few realized elements from the original landscape plan.