After winning an international competition in 2003 commissioned by the Flemish Government, Dutch architecture office KAAN Architecten has worked intensively on the complex masterplan, renovation, and extension of the Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Antwerp bringing contemporary allure to a glorious, overlooked beauty of the 19th century. 

Rising above the remains of the 16th-century citadel and intertwined within the remarkable star-shaped urban fabric, the museum was originally designed in the 19th century by architects Jacob Winders and Frans van Dyck. It opened to the public in 1890.

During the 20th century, new developments in exhibition design and museum distribution brought fundamental changes to the building's layout, modifying the original circulation route and the connection with the city.In the early 2000s, while KAAN Architecten started working on the museum’s masterplan, renovation, and extension, the southern neighbourhood of Antwerp began to progressively gain greater value through public investments and urban transformation. 

One of the architect's most intrepid initiatives was to completely conceal the extension of the museum within its existing inner structure, the new addition is not visible from the outside, in order to highlight the heritage value and the resilience of the outstanding 19th-century building, nestled in this fast-changing district.

The extension co-exists with the powerful historical structure without diluting its monumental character. KMSKA is now divided into three realms: a public entrance area , central exhibition spaces, and offices at the rear side of the building.

KAAN Architecten has created an architectural concept for KMSKA that takes the form of an enchanting journey where visitors explore the two contrasting and dialoguing museums, which unveil themselves little by little. The experience is never predictable yet always in balance: both routes are challenging and designed to serve the art.