Christian Kieckens can be regarded as one of the pioneers of narrative architecture in Flanders. As a professor at the University of Antwerp, he inspires several generations of architects, devoting his knowledge and international network wholeheartedly to establishing an architectural culture in Flanders and Belgium – driven by a sense of social responsibility and a yearning for universal and fundamental beauty, pure and simple. From Francesco Borromini to Arvo Pärt, from Lina Bo Bardi to David Bowie: his love of art, literature and pop culture blends with a profound knowledge of all aspects of architecture and its history.

Christian Kieckens graduated from Sint-Lucas in Ghent in 1974, alongside Marie-José Van Hee, Paul Robbrecht, Hilde Daem and Marc Dubois. As early as the 1980s, they developed a research-oriented design approach that, with an awareness of tradition, focused on the autonomous logic of architecture. Architecture is regarded as a spatial phenomenon, from the perspective of habitation and experience. Art and craftsmanship are central to the creation of architecture.