Gijs Van Vaerenbergh Reimagines Herkenrode Abbey's Lost Architecture with Steel Frameworks
Gijs Van Vaerenbergh's "CLAUSURA" art project offers a compelling reinterpretation of the historical Herkenrode Abbey in Belgium. This large-scale intervention reconstructs the abbey's lost core through an intricate steel framework, providing a 'ghost-like' outline of its vanished cloisters. Commissioned by the Flemish heritage organization Herita, the installation aims to resurrect the abbey's historical presence without literally rebuilding it. Thin steel tubes meticulously trace the contours of the absent structures directly onto the landscape, creating a dynamic visual experience where architecture alternates between clear visibility and subtle disappearance, inviting viewers to actively engage with the site's rich past.
Herkenrode Abbey, established in the late 12th century, was once a thriving Cistercian monastery in the Low Countries. Over centuries, it expanded to encompass extensive cloister gardens, galleries, convent buildings, infirmaries, and a Gothic church. However, due to various historical events such as fires, decay, and demolitions, most of its central edifices were lost, leaving only fragmented remnants of the original complex today. The CLAUSURA project seeks to bridge this gap, allowing contemporary visitors to visualize the grandeur of the abbey as it once stood.
The Belgian artistic duo, Gijs Van Vaerenbergh, conceptualized a spatial drawing that restores the abbey's ensemble through precise outlines, rhythmic patterns, and varying perspectives. The installation faithfully recreates the missing buildings at their original dimensions and locations using a lightweight grid of steel tubes. This design allows the structure to appear to dissolve into its natural surroundings, offering a constantly evolving perception depending on the observer's viewpoint. The interplay of light and shadow, combined with the visitor's movement, brings elements like vaults, windows, towers, and rooflines into temporary focus before they recede into abstract forms.
Beyond merely outlining vanished structures, the project also integrates new steel frameworks with existing remnants of the sisters' quarters, infirmary, and arcade. These additions stabilize and extend the surviving masonry, replicating former roof structures and creating sheltered spaces for temporary use, thus preserving the historical integrity while adding new functionalities. This approach reflects Gijs Van Vaerenbergh's ongoing exploration of architecture as a perceptual experience, turning buildings into drawings, atmospheres, or optical illusions, as seen in their previous works like "Reading Between the Lines" and "Labyrint."
At Herkenrode, this methodology renders absence spatially tangible. Visitors navigate a reconstructed void where the essence of the architecture endures as an outline, transforming heritage into an active dialogue between what remains, what has disappeared, and what can still be imagined. The CLAUSURA project is being executed in three phases, with the initial and most extensive phase scheduled to debut on June 18th, 2026. This initiative not only brings a forgotten past to life but also highlights the studio's profound engagement with themes of reconstruction, erosion, and architectural memory, offering a powerful reflection on the ephemeral nature of built environments.