Following a competition, the town of Wervik has appointed noAarchitecten as the designer for the new community centre in the borough of Geluwe. A theatre, a multipurpose space, a youth centre and a branch of the art academy will be housed in GC Gilwe, which takes its name from a water name, more specifically from the colour of the watercourse known as the ‘gilwe beke’ (the yellow stream). The name already appeared in writings from 1085, when Geluwe was still called Geleve.

Flanders has a dense network of cultural and community centres, which have sprung up like mushrooms since the early 1970s as a result of the prosperous post-industrial society. The idea of democratisation was paramount. Culture was for everyone, and the cultural centres were to be welcoming, pluralistic, multi-purpose institutions, firmly anchored in local or regional life. Fifty years later, there is an even stronger local focus on cultural participation, community building and the dissemination of culture.