Former medical lab transformed into artistic hotbed
The monumental building of Leuven’s former Bacteriological Institute has found a new purpose. By offering free workspace to students and staff from KU Leuven, it aims to become a cross-disciplinary hotbed for generations of artists
A lab for the arts
When it opened in 1899, the Bacteriological Institute was indeed the pride of the University of Leuven (KU Leuven), emphasising its aim to become a leading force in medical research. After the faculty of medicine left the building in 1957 it had multiple functions, housing a medical centre and departments of the faculty of agriculture.
In 2010 the Flemish government protected the (by then empty) building as a monument with historical value. Since the space still showed solid artistic and architectural qualities, a new, cultural, destination became the obvious course of action. At least that’s what Professor Katlijn Malfliet, the vice rector for culture, thought.
She saw the empty building as an opportunity to tackle the lack of decent artist workspaces for KU Leuven students and staff, and soon the idea of BAC Atelier was born. After some basic renovations – new electricity, doors and floors – the building now houses 10 artist studios, two hangars for visual arts and two pavilions for performing or audio-visual arts and music.
Diverse disciplines
“All these workspaces are free for students and staff of KU Leuven and the KU Leuven Association,” says Kristina Seyfried, who’s in charge of the project. After the first deadline, out of more than 30 applications she helped choose 15 artists.
She was positively surprised by the diversity of the applications, she explains. “We were a bit afraid that most of them would come from students at the Luca school of arts, because we know they don’t have so many workspaces. But the mix was just ideal.”
The ratio between students and staff is almost 50-50, and the mix of disciplines is also balanced. “We have someone with a day job in the operating theatre at the Gasthuisberg hospital, and a group of women preparing their graduation in graphic design. We might have expected more painters, but instead we’ve got a lot of interdisciplinary artists, such as photographers making installations and collages.” Considering the focus on artistic experimentation and cross-fertilisation, that’s a definite plus.
This might not strictly be a laboratory in pure sciences, but it certainly will be one in artistic sciences
The interdisciplinary platform KU Leuven aims to establish here is supported by a desire to connect upcoming young artists with more experienced, (semi) professional artists. That’s why they took the architects and arts duo Gijs Van Vaerenbergh in for a four-year residency. With their multidisciplinary design practice they will set up collaborations with students from the Faculty of Architecture.
Pieterjan Gijs considers their presence a counterweight for the temporary users of the space. “Our collaboration works at different levels, from just being in the building and thinking how we can transform it to really shaping the interaction and cross-fertilisation between practice, education and research.”
He explains that a deeper interaction between the three areas has become more important in recent years, adding that their own practice, working with students and interns in an environment that resembles a lab, isn’t so different from what the amateur artists will do in their new workspaces.
So it’s not just the new name of the building – BAC Atelier – that’s bridging past and future. “This might not strictly be a laboratory in pure sciences,” says Gijs, “but it certainly will be one in artistic sciences.”
Photo: Rob Stevens/KU Leuven
University of Leuven
staff members in 2013
students in 2014-2015 academic year
million euros in annual research budget
- KU Leuven
- KU Leuven Association
- Study in Flanders
