The firms Noa Architects (already in charge of the construction of Kanal-Centre Pompidou) and David Kohn Architects won the competition for the construction of the new Smak in Ghent. There were 53 candidates in the running. The project, costing 80 to 90 million euros, plans a museum that will be three times larger, with 20,000 m2 and will include two museum buildings: the Smak hall, which houses the current museum opposite the Museum of Fine Arts , and a new equivalent volume “the House of collections”, built on the site of the old “casino head” which is not currently used. One of the buildings will be to show the permanent collection with 500 pieces. New, the entrance will be through the citadel park, an entrance marked by a small tower with the Smak symbol. We will enter the large Floralies room, which also becomes the city’s “winter garden”. The project still needs to be refined and will also depend on the new Flemish government, but could be ready for 2030, Ghent also being a candidate to be European cultural capital by this date.
