The Flemish Chief Architect’s Masterpiece competition is celebrating its twentieth anniversary. Its aim is to offer recently qualified architects and promising young artists the opportunity to carry out a public commission. The previous edition, in 2017, focused on heritage and repurposing. In 2019, the theme was ‘social housing’.

In the days of the guilds, a masterpiece or ‘Meesterproef’ granted an apprentice craftsman the right to practise the craft independently. Through the Master’s Test, the Flemish Chief Architect aims to give newly qualified architects the opportunity to gain experience and prove themselves on a public sector commission. Architect bOb Van Reeth, the first Flemish Chief Architect, had already realised surprising buildings whilst still a student and hoped, through the Master’s Test, to convince a risk-averse government to engage talented and driven young people for its commissions. After all, by relying on certainty and experienced designers, the government misses out on opportunities for innovation. Up-and-coming talent can provide surprising solutions to familiar problems.