The new pavilion of the Frans Masereel Centre in Kasterlee, a collaboration between the architectural firms List and Hideyuki Nakayama, is anything but hierarchically organised. Designed as a street corner, there are barely any physical boundaries between the various, multi-purpose spaces, placing the focus squarely on interaction between all users. Artist Jean Glibert also literally highlights this unique experience.

Sheltered by the Kempen Ridge, nestled in the crook of the Kabouterberg in Kasterlee, lies one of the largest centres for printmaking and graphic art in Europe. The Frans Masereel Centre (fmc), a laboratory where national and international artists reside, create, experiment and meet in analogue studios equipped with, for example, screen-printing and etching tables, as well as a digital studio. The collaboration between the architects of the Paris-based firm List and the Japanese architect Hideyuki Nakayama resulted in a new pavilion that reinforces the centre’s contemporary function. From Belgian soil, Bureau Bouwtechniek oversaw the entire project, whilst painter Jean Glibert created an artistic intervention that affirms the pavilion’s connection to the graphic arts.