Brussels government visits KANAL construction site
Thursday morning, the Brussels government visited the future KANAL museum construction site to be informed about the next phase of renovation work leading to the opening of the museum in 2025.
The work is currently entering a new phase. The demolition was completed, and foundations for three new buildings will be dug 22m deep. The construction of the new halls which will house exhibition spaces, an auditorium, a library, archives, and workshops, among other things, will begin in February. At the same time, the showroom will be restored to its original size. Over the last few months, the showroom has been completely dismantled, increasingly resembling its original 1930s design.
KANAL-Centre Pompidou, like all construction sites, has not been spared by the pandemic, the war in Ukraine (and the resulting shortage of materials), and a number of unforeseen circumstances linked to the scale of this extraordinary 40,000m2 construction site. For these reasons, it is now realistic to plan the opening of the museum in 2025. The final timetable foresees the completion of works in June 2025 and a public opening of the entire site in autumn 2025. The artistic and production teams are working hard on an extensive programme of exhibitions, performances, and events, fulfilling the highly anticipated dreams of the museum's impact on the neighbourhood, Brussels, and far beyond.
Renovating an emblematic building like the Citroën garage is not easy. The reallocation of the premises is being done with great respect for the site’s heritage value. The architects, contractors, and KANAL teams are constantly seeking solutions to challenges posed by such an ambitious site renovation/reconstruction. Sustainable construction and re-use are at the heart of this approach. The ‘as found’ principle remains the basis for the design of the future museum.
In the meantime, KANAL is building up its team, seeking to be as diverse as the public it serves, ready to meet expectations. With this in mind, the Brussels Government takes note of Yves Goldstein's mission as the Brussels Government's commissioner to bring the conversion of the garage into a museum to a successful conclusion.
