Het Huis

Het Huis is a semi-open exhibition pavilion in Antwerp’s Middelheim Museum, where architecture stands among outdoor sculpture and formal gardens. A green-painted steel structure rises above a polished concrete base. Robbrecht & Daem designed the pavilion with diagonal lines that set it into the surrounding landscape rather than the garden’s geometry. Its steel lattice and visible welded beams expose how the building is assembled. Vertical recesses open the pavilion to daylight, dividing the sheltered interior into spaces for smaller or fragile artworks. Natural light changes across the polished concrete floor. A geometric roof creates an angular ceiling surface, while the open structure keeps trees, garden paths, and artworks within view. Trees stand at opposite ends of the pavilion. The design draws on Gottfried Semper’s ideas about textile origins in building and connects construction with weaving. Thomas Schütte’s glossy ceramic urns and heads inaugurated the exhibition space, contrasting with concrete, steel, and the roof’s geometric lines. The pavilion provides a more intimate setting for works that need protection from the open-air museum environment. Het Huis brings art, architecture, daylight, and landscape into a visible composition within Middelheim’s sculpture park.