A new visitor centre and archive building (the Rubenianum) are being constructed around the historic garden. The scheme is clearly Palladian, with both volumes executed in a domestic, Mannerist language that grafts itself onto the surroundings. The relationship between architecture and trompe-l’oeil was deeply entwined during Rubens’ own lifetime and a subject of contemporary debate. Rubens himself was greatly influenced by figures such as Vredeman de Vries, Giulio Romano, Michelangelo and Scamozzi. For the aforementioned Mannerists, there was no absolute boundary between two-dimensional representations and three-dimensional constructions. The trompe l’oeil facades of the new buildings suggest the illusion of depth within a classical articulation. They playfully transform from an oblique angle into a semi-abstract intarsia, as a noteworthy form of ornamentation.
Rubens House Extension
Antwerp
- Design teamDirk Somers, Carole Boeckx, Axel Chevroulet, Vera Bannwart, Sander Laureys, Tobias Puhlmann and Odair Nelson Fortes
- LocationAntwerp
- Year2016
- ClientCity of Antwerp
- StatusCompetition
- In collaboration withLandinzicht, landscape architects and Callebaut Architects