Antwerp, Rubens House to close four years for redevelopment work

It will close for four years for redevelopment work at Antwerp’s Rubenshuis, the house that Pieter Paul Rubens (Siegen, 1577 - Antwerp, 1640) bought in 1610(more on that in this article) and which today has become one of the city’s most visited museums, thanks to the works it preserves and its lively exhibition activity. The doors of the Rubenshuis will close on January 9, 2023, with a planned reopening in 2027, the year in which the 450th anniversary of Rubens’ birth will be celebrated.

The work includes the construction of a new public reception building and a new garden. The former, designed by Robbrecht & Daem Architects and located on Hopland Street, a short walk from the Rubenshuis, will be a modern structure designed to address problems and deficiencies noted by visitors, scholars and employees. The Rubenshuis will also undergo renovations: the renovation, the institute says, will create more space for visitors and international exhibitions. The museum will also be equipped with a modern air conditioner, which with sustainable techniques will ensure that the indoor climate of the historic mansion is managed optimally and without waste. Still, a complete renovation of the museum’s interior will aim to improve the public experience while the addition of an elevator will make the museum widely accessible to the disabled.

The overall renovation of the museum also involves changes to current opening hours, especially to the garden, which will have limited access. In fact, work on the new building in Hopland will begin in the spring of 2022, while the central part of the garden will also be upgraded from the fall onward. The Rubens House will remain open during this work, up to and including January 8, 2023. Restoration of the museum, on the other hand, will begin once the museum closes. In April 2024 the new building in Hopland will open to the public: until 2027 it will allow visitors to view some of the masterpieces in the museum’s collection, which will be moved here. The museum’s cafeteria will be completed in 2027, and until then the second floor of the new building will serve as a creative hub where people can meet and perhaps contribute to the history and experience of Rubens’ new home.

Antwerp, Rubens House to close four years for redevelopment work

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