Brussels based architecture firm Office KGDVS has created a new gallery building for the Tim van Laere Gallery in Antwerp. Photography: Frederik Vercruysse

‘It had to be a strong building,’ Tim Van Laere shouts over the wind. ‘And it needed to be a function of art.’ We’re on the roof terrace of what will soon be the Belgium art dealer’s new gallery, looking out over the river Scheldt. Our hard-hats are on, our coats buttoned up against the rain. It’s a cold, grey day in Antwerp. But Tim Van Laere couldn’t be in a better mood.

“它必须是一座坚固的建筑，”蒂姆·范莱尔(TimVanLaere)在风中呼喊。“它必须是艺术的一种功能。”我们在即将成为比利时艺术品交易商的新画廊的屋顶露台上，向外眺望施尔特河。我们的安全帽戴着，外套扣着防雨.安特卫普是个阴冷的日子。但蒂姆·范莱尔的心情再好不过了。

He opened the existing Tim Van Laere Gallery, in the popular Zuid district of Antwerp, when he was just 27 years old. Twenty years of hard work down the line, and he boasts a roster of some of the most exciting contemporary artists in Belgium, and indeed Europe – names like Kati Heck, Jonathan Meese, Franz West and Rinus Van De Velde.

他在安特卫普广受欢迎的祖德区开设了现有的蒂姆·范莱尔画廊(TimVanLaere)，当时他只有27岁。经过20年的艰苦努力，他拥有比利时和欧洲一些最令人兴奋的当代艺术家的名单，比如卡蒂·海克、乔纳森·米塞、弗兰兹·韦斯特和里纳斯·范德韦尔德。

But, until now, Van Laere has had to work out of a single-room gallery space on the ground floor of a townhouse in Verlatstraat, a residential street in Zuid. Over the years, he has been offered the chance to move to larger spaces in the surrounding area, but he has turned them down. He harboured an ambition to design, from the ground up, a free-standing gallery, one that communicated the principles of ‘accessibility and independence’ that he has based his business on.

但是，到目前为止，范莱尔还不得不在维拉斯特拉的一栋联排别墅的底层、祖德的一条住宅街道的一间单人画廊空间里工作。多年来，他一直有机会搬到更大的空间，但他拒绝了。他怀有一种自始至终设计一座独立画廊的野心，这座画廊传达了他的业务所依据的“可达性和独立性”的原则。

Today, that ideal is coming to fruition. And in a hive of activity too. We speak over the whine of bandsaws, the hum of heavy machinery, the churn of a concert mixer and the calls of the workers as they busy themselves downstairs. ‘It’s a straightforward building, made in a very direct, brutal way,’ architect David Van Severen says, as we weave our way through the gallery. ‘We wanted to build something you could walk in for the first time and feel like you already know it. But we also wanted it to be maybe a little “in your face”.’

今天，这一理想即将实现。在一个活动的蜂巢里。我们用锯条、重型机械的嗡嗡声、音乐会搅拌机的搅拌声和工人们在楼下忙着工作的声音交谈。建筑师大卫·范·塞弗伦(DavidVanSeveren)说：“这是一座简单的建筑，是以一种非常直接、残酷的方式建造的。”“我们想要做一些你可以第一次走进的东西，让你觉得自己已经知道了。”但我们也希望它能“在你的脸上”。

The structure is a standalone building, composed of five concrete blocks. Photography: Frederik Vercruysse

该结构是独立建筑，由5个混凝土砌块组成。摄影:FrederikVerruysse

Van Severen and his partner, Kersten Geers, founded Brussels-based architects firm O Kersten Geers David Van Severen in 2002. Tim Van Laere heard of OFFICE after they were invited, in 2008, to design the Belgian pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennial. It’s a firm, Van Severen says, ‘that tries to reduce architecture to its very essence’. ‘I loved that attitude,’ Van Laere says. ‘As soon as I met David, I was signed up.’

VanSeveren和他的合伙人Kersten Geers于2002年创建了总部位于布鲁塞尔的建筑师事务所O Kersten Geers David Van Severen。蒂姆·范莱尔(TimVanLaere)在2008年应邀在威尼斯建筑双年展上设计比利时馆后，听说了办公室的事。VanSeveren说，这是一家公司，它试图将建筑简化为其本质。范莱尔说，我喜欢这种态度。“一见到大卫，我就被签了约。”

The site they chose together is at the centre of what will soon be known as Nieuw Zuid, a new sustainable and low-impact urban development on the south-western edge of Antwerp. It is poised to become Antwerp’s newest cultural quarter, comparable in some ways to London’s Olympic Village. And they will be at the heart of it.

他们共同选择的地点位于不久将被称为NieuwZuid的地方，这是安特卫普西南边缘的一项新的可持续和低影响的城市开发。它即将成为安特卫普最新的文化区，在某些方面可以与伦敦奥运村媲美。他们将是它的核心。

Van Laere is a rangy guy with a relaxed, and familiar demeanour. His hair brushes his shoulders and he laughs through a shaggy beard. He’s wearing jeans and boots and a coat that might be owned by Liam Gallagher. At a glance, he’s maybe not the most typical of art dealers. But don’t underestimate him. After leaving school, Van Laere almost made it as a professional tennis player, and he’s carried the demands of that sport – and the attitude needed to succeed in it – into his life in the art world. When I visit the studio of Rinus Van De Velde the next day, he shows me a drawing of Tim in his tennis whites, stood by a pile of broken rackets. ‘He’s a very competitive and very intense and very good player,’ Rinus says. ‘And he brings the attitude on the tennis court into his gallery, and into the way he represents his artists. He wants to push and succeed, and he wants you to push and succeed with him, and he’s totally focused on doing so.’

范莱尔是个体形瘦长的人，举止轻松而熟悉。他的头发抚摸着他的肩膀，他笑着穿过蓬松的胡须。他穿着牛仔裤、靴子和一件可能是利亚姆·加拉格尔(LiamGallagher)所有的外套。乍一看，他可能不是最典型的艺术品交易商。但别低估他。离开学校后，范莱尔几乎成为了一名职业网球运动员，他把这项运动的要求-以及成功的态度-带入了他在艺术界的生活。第二天，当我参观里纳斯·范德·韦尔德的工作室时，他给我看了一幅蒂姆穿着他的白色网球服，站在一堆破球拍旁边的画。“他是一个非常有竞争力，非常激烈，非常优秀的球员，”莱纳斯说。他把网球场上的态度带入了他的画廊，他代表他的艺术家的方式。他想要推动和成功，他希望你和他一起推动和成功，他完全专注于这样做。

The group show currently exhibited in Van Laere’s old gallery will be the last in that space. Fittingly, he’s titled it ‘The Last Waltz’. It’s a fiercely contemporary showcase of 19 artists. ‘I truly never chose an artist thinking to myself, this could be art I can sell,’ he says. ‘I believe, if an artist is good, you can sell them. The gallery grew very organically with that mindset.’ That attitude has extended to the new space as well. ‘I think the engineers are fed up with me, because I don’t want to compromise on anything,’ Van Laere shrugs with a smile. ‘But it will be worth it.’

目前在VandLaere的旧画廊展出的小组将是这一空间的最后一个画廊。他以“最后华尔兹”的名字命名为“最后华尔兹”。“这是19名艺术家的强烈的当代展示。”他说，“我真的从来没有选择艺术家对我自己的思考，这可能是我可以卖的艺术品。”他说。“我相信，如果一个艺术家擅长，你可以卖掉它们。”画廊与这种心态有机地增长了。“这种态度已经扩展到了新的空间。”我认为工程师们已经受够了我，因为我不想妥协任何东西，“范·拉雷耸耸肩，微笑着。”“但这是值得的。”

The new space is situated in Nieuw Zuid, a new sustainable and low-impact urban district on the south-western edge of Antwerp. Photography: Frederik Vercruysse

新的空间位于纽瓦祖德，一个新的可持续和低影响的城市地区，在西南边缘的安特卫普。摄影：弗雷德里克·维克鲁斯

The final iteration of the gallery space will be 10,700 sq ft. It’s a free-standing building, surrounded by a soon-to-bloom garden on one side and the banks of the Scheldt on the other. It’s a concatenation of five separate blocks: a storage space and roof terrace, a ‘house’ with office and meeting space, as well as a small gallery for emerging artists, and then two airy, high-ceilinged gallery rooms – one of which is nicknamed ‘the chapel’ because of the angled arch of its roof area – and an outdoor sculpture garden where bronze statues of almost three meters will stand.

画廊空间的最后一次迭代将是10，700平方英尺。这是一座独立的建筑，一边是一座即将开花的花园，另一边是施尔特河岸。它是由五个独立的街区连接起来的：一个存储空间和屋顶露台，一个带有办公室和会议空间的“房子”，以及一个新兴艺术家的小画廊，然后是两个通风的画廊，天花板很高的画廊房间-其中一间被戏称为“礼拜堂”(The Chapel)，因为它的屋顶上有一个有角度的拱门-还有一个室外雕塑花园，那里有近三米高的青铜雕像。

The slants that form the separate roof spaces of each room have been orientated to face northwards, meaning the gallery will have the optimum amount of natural light as the sun moves from east to west. Glass panes interlink the slanted wooden beams, angled so the artworks are never exposed to direct sunlight.

形成每个房间的独立屋顶空间的斜面都是朝北的，这意味着当太阳从东向西移动时，画廊将拥有最佳的自然光量。玻璃板将倾斜的木横梁相互连接起来，使艺术品永远不会暴露在阳光直射下。

Each of the five blocks are made from concrete cast in a lighter pastel hue – ‘it’s a warm colour, something you don’t associate with concrete,’ Van Severen says. While the concrete was cast, it was encased in wood panelling, the planks leaving an imprint on the end result. The expressive pink that Van Laere uses for his branding – a colour originally found in a Franz West painting – will be emblazoned on steel shutters over the concrete walls.

这五块砖中的每一块都是用浅色调的混凝土浇铸而成-“这是一种温暖的颜色，与混凝土不相关，”VanSeveren说。当混凝土被浇铸时，它被包裹在木板上，木板在最终的结果上留下了印记。范莱尔在他的品牌上所使用的富有表现力的粉红色-一种最初在弗兰兹·西画中发现的颜色-将在混凝土墙壁上的钢百叶窗上刻上图案。

The key, Van Laere repeats, is the new space acts as a function of art. ‘The space changes the relationship I can have with the artists, and it changes how they exhibit their work. It might even change how they work,’ he says. ‘It will challenge them.’ Van Severen adds: ‘It’s like a sculpture in its own right. Without it trying to be art, art is the central, focal point.’ Van Laere agrees. He looks around, hands in his pockets and a smile on his face. ‘This fits the story,’ he says. ‘And it’s going to be beautiful.’ §

范莱尔重复说，关键是新空间作为艺术的一种功能。空间改变了我和艺术家之间的关系，也改变了他们展示作品的方式。他说：“这甚至可能会改变他们的工作方式。”“这将对他们构成挑战。”VanSeveren补充道：“这本身就像一座雕塑。没有试图成为艺术，艺术是中心，焦点。范莱尔同意。他环顾四周，双手插在口袋里，脸上露出微笑。他说，这符合这个故事。“而且它会很美。”

除了画廊外，该项目还包括一个存储空间、屋顶露台、办公室和一个会议空间。摄影：除了画廊区，该项目还包括一个存储空间、屋顶露台、办公室和一个会议空间。摄影：弗雷德里克·维克鲁斯

这座大楼的五块砖块都是用混凝土浇铸成的，颜色较浅。摄影：弗雷德里克·维克鲁斯，这座建筑的五块砖块都是用混凝土铸成的，颜色较浅。摄影：弗雷德里克·维克鲁斯

屋面向北倾斜，为艺术展示创造了最佳的照明条件。摄影：弗雷德里克·维斯鲁伊斯，屋面倾斜，朝向北，为艺术展示创造了最佳的照明条件。摄影：弗雷德里克·维克鲁斯