Incoming
Materials from the former Court of Appeal & Labour in Antwerp
08/11/2024
We’re recovering furniture from the former Court of Appeal & Labour in Antwerp.
Designed by Belgian architects Marc Appel and Jan Welslau in 1973, the building was originally intended to be a temporary solution, as the courtrooms were to be moved to a new Palace of Justice a few years later. This gave the architects a limited budget and a tight schedule to create a building meant to represent the law. A year later, in 1974, construction was completed. The result was a double tower made of prefabricated concrete, with a design that, against all odds, managed to escape banality. In the end, the building served for 50 years. It probably could have lasted longer, for a different purpose, if the city hadn't decided otherwise. This winter, demolition works will begin to make way for the new Museum of Contemporary Art of Antwerp (MHKA).
The interiors are an interesting showcase of 1970s furniture: custom-made benches combining different shades of wood veneer, DSC 106 chairs by Giancarlo Piretti for Castelli in the courtrooms, furniture by Tubax, and more!
