Het Steen wins heritage prize despite fierce criticism: “The old castle has been given a new, accessible élan” | Antwerp
ANTWERPHet Steen in Antwerp has won the 2022 Immovable Heritage Award. Striking, given the new, modern gray extension to the iconic building aroused strong criticism before. “The repurposing of the Steen ensures that the building has been given a new impetus,” said Matthias Diependaele, Flemish Minister for Immovable Heritage, during the award ceremony on Friday evening.
The Immovable Heritage Prize for recent achievements in the field of monument care, landscape care and archaeology. The seventh edition of the prize focused on heritage that is accessible to the public. Out of 38 candidates, an external jury nominated the Steen in Antwerp, the Sint-Odulphuskerk in Borgloon and the old city hall of Mechelen as laureates. Each laureate will win an amount of 2,500 euros. In addition, the winner will receive 12,500 euros, so a total of 15,000 euros.
Het Steen is the most and next to the cathedral perhaps the iconic building of Antwerp. Built in the early thirteenth century, the castle has dominated the banks of the Scheldt for centuries. Today, the Steen has been resurrected as the tourist reception center of the city, where residents and visitors can go for information, bookings, exhibitions and an experience trail. “The monument is now easily accessible to everyone, including the less mobile visitor,” said Minister Diependaele.
Criticism
However, the repurposing of the Steen and the new, modern gray outbuilding has attracted a lot of criticism from the inhabitants of Antwerp. City guide Tanguy Ottomer regularly calls the new building “pincers on a pig” and more than 18,000 people signed the online petition ‘Bring back the koterij aan het Steen immediately’. Diependaele recognizes that the repurposing is a dossier that causes a lot of controversy. “But that is, it feeds a good social debate about how we can and want to start today with monuments and concepts such as style, authenticity and aesthetics”, the Flemish minister.
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The Sint-Odulphuskerk in Borgloon won the audience award on Friday evening. In addition to being a fairly present place of worship, the church is also a meeting place, a meeting and exhibition space, a place for reflection and culture. Marc Elsen, who is the driving force behind the restoration of the wine wall in Wezemaal, received an honorable mention. “He took care of the preservation and restoration of part of a historic wall, built with dry-stacked ironstone,” according to the jury.
“Antwerp’s birthplace is mutilated”: former mayor displeased with new ‘box of blocks’ at Het Steen (+)
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