Meeting of Faith and Socio-Functions in Time
Z33, Hasselt, Belgium

Architect: Francesca Torzo
Text: György Szegő
Photos: Z33

The 2022 finalist of the biennial Mies van der Rohe Award competition is a new kind of museum established for contemporary art, urban history and social issues in the city of Hasselt, which has grown along its diamond polishing industry. One of the units at No 19 and 58 Bonnenfantenstraat was built in 2002 (architect: Gustaaf Daniëls), the other is a new wing designed by Francesca Torzo, which has recently been inaugurated. The third architectural component of the institution is the medieval foundry house, which preserves the original UNESCO-listed building. Z33 is primarily an institution for contemporary art, bringing together the visual arts, design, architecture and contemporary social issues. It does not have a permanent collection, it is not actually a museum, but rather a home for a collage of functions formed by the combination of urban development and social sciences sensitive to contemporary issues. One of the exhibition spaces is cramped and dark-toned, another is spacious and rich in sunlight, and the third type is almost a continuation of the garden. The materials used on the building provide a collage of old and medieval and 19th-century brickwork combined with very good taste. The meeting of the old and the new parts of the building is treated in an innovative way by the architect: the whole “man-made atmosphere” can be read with an almost lush and fresh sense of humour.

Leading architect: Francesca Torzo
Collaborators: Marco Guerra, Riccardo Amarri, Pablo Brenas, Lorenzo Gatta, Liaohui Guo, Cyril Kamber, Besart Krasniqi, Antoine Lebot, Jovan Minic, Andrea Nardi, Anna Oliva, Anna Optiz, Costanza Passuello, Alessandro Pecci, Domenico Singha Pedroli, Nicola Torniamenti, Gion Von Albertini, Előd Zoltan, Kristof Mutert, Michiel Wielockx
Facade: Gianfranco Bronzini
Lighting: Ben Boving Petersen
Client: Z33, Provincie Limburg
Main contractor: THV Houben Belemco