Church Gijs Van Vaerenbergh chosen as Building of the Year

Photo by Kristof Vrancken

The images of 'Reading between the lines', an artwork by the Belgian duo Gijs Van Vaerenbergh, are going around the world. And it will only gain more fame, because the readers of the famous website ArchDaily have chosen the church as 'Building of the Year' in the category 'religious buildings'.

With 'Reading between the lines' Gijs Van Vaerenbergh created an object of art, that's beautifully corresponding with the surrounding rural landscape of Borgloon. Especially when the sun goes down. The model is based on the real church of Borgloon, which you can see in the distance. On a base of armed concrete the architects Pieterjan Gijs and Arnout Van Vaerenbergh have built a construction that consists of 30 tons of steel and 2000 columns.

Through the use of horizontal plates, the concept of the traditional church is transformed into a transparent object of art. First of all, 'Reading between the lines' is a visual experience in itself. At the same time, it's a reflection about architecture. But it's also more than that. It questions also the contemporary use of the numerous churches in Flanders that were built in the past, when Flanders was still a very catholic region. Nowadays we have to rethink the use of these churches.

Beleza joined the revealing of the project in September 2011, as part of the bigger project Z-OUT. With this project Z33, the house of contemporary art in Hasselt, wants to put art in public space in four regions in Limburg. The trajectory around Borgloon, called 'Pit', was the first to open it's doors. To announce the project, a very big yellow plastic duck called 'De Badeend' by Florentijn Hofman about which I was writing a catalogue, was floating on the rivers in Limburg.

Elien Haentjens

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