The new wing of Z33, the House of Contemporary Art, Design & Architecture in Hasselt, is a rare example of a Gesamtkunstwerk, certainly in the context of contemporary museum and art gallery architecture. The building was designed by the Italian architect Francesca Torzo and was completed earlier this year, but due to the coronavirus crisis, the opening did not take place until June.

Just before the planned inauguration, architecture critic Pieter T’Jonck provided a detailed, comprehensive description of the building. ¹ At the end of his piece, T’Jonck noted that the building offers visitors an intense spatial experience, which can be a challenge for artists and curators. Z33 does indeed exude such a strong architectural presence that exhibitions will inevitably have to take it into account. But perhaps this is actually an advantage. 1 Pieter T’Jonck, ‘The new wing of Z33’, in HART magazine, 2 March 2020