SMAK
Ghent, Belgium 2024
Client: SMAK, Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst Competition entry
In 2023, the City of Ghent launched an international competition for the future of SMAK, seeking proposals that would expand the museum, improve its visibility in Citadelpark, and strengthen its relationship to the Museum of Fine Arts and the Floraliënhal. Our competition entry responds to this ambition by working with the existing buildings—preserving their cultural memory while proposing a sustainable, low‑carbon extension for the next chapter of SMAK.
The Museum and its Doubles. The new SMAK comes home to the park. It takes its place opposite the Museum of Fine Arts and at either end of the Floraliënhal. By rejecting demolition and underground construction, and instead employing low-carbon materials to extend the building upwards, the design proposes a truly sustainable and circular project.
Credits
Location
Ghent, Belgium
Date
2024
Client
Flemish Government and SMAK
Area
20 000 m²
Caruso St John Architects
Adam Caruso, Peter St John
Project team
Julia Cramer, Ben Speltz
Collaborating architects
De Smet Vermeulen architecten
Structural Engineer
ARUP
Heritage Architects
Studio Roma
Visualisations
Filippo Bolognese Images
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