A unique sensory experience at the Concertgebouw Museum in Bruges

Bruges was voted European Cultural Capital in 2002, and with good reason: the city has been a cultural and commercial crossroads since the Middle Ages. With its typical canals and charming bourgeois houses, the city is one of Europe's most popular destinations. The Bruges authorities rely on their talented artists to enhance the city's reputation. The Concertgebow (literally, Concert Building in Dutch) was opened in 2002. The centre is dedicated to the performing arts and music, and aims to develop and present works at an international level.

An international centre for music and the performing arts, the Concertgebouw focuses on contemporary music and dance, but the building also houses an innovative interactive sound art space, the Sound Factory. A journey of sound discovery awaits you as you discover a dozen interactive works. These include "Omni" by artist Patrice Moullet. Moullet spent 23 years developing his work. It is a kind of sphere made up of distinct coloured boxes, each emitting a particular sound. The installation contains hundreds of different sounds, giving free rein to visitors' musical imaginations as they compose their own unique compositions. There's also the Vibrating Soundscape, a multi-sensory installation for hearing and feeling sounds. It's a piece of furniture made up of different surfaces (such as horsehair, which retains vibration well) on which you sit and which starts to vibrate according to the pitch and frequency of the sound. This work was commissioned by the museum to mark Icon Week, devoted to Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. Beethoven lost his hearing when he composed this work. This project gave the museum a new impetus to undertake projects with deaf and mute people.

There is also a visual art trail, with sculptures and other works such as projections, collages and concrete structures. You're sure to be surprised by the collection of art and surprising works that make up the museum. They are presented in such a way as to be in complete harmony with the carefully designed building. The museum regularly commissions works to be displayed in conjunction with its exhibitions, thereby enhancing both the artistic display and the visitor experience. For the museum's founders, this is a true cultural mission. As a result, they focus primarily on the development of creation and creativity rather than on representations. As a result, the museum offers a wide range of arts education activities for young and old alike, as well as intense artistic experiences in optimal presentation conditions.

The building also regularly hosts festivals such as the MA Festival in August (an early music festival), the Bach Academy in January and a dance festival in December. Built in 2002, the building is 120 metres long, 50 metres wide and 35 metres high, and spans 7 levels. The top floor of the Lanterne Tower houses an exhibition room devoted to contemporary art, with a magnificent view over the city.

In the 1990s, the project was launched to build this new building, which would bring together modern and contemporary performing arts. A major architectural competition was launched to mark the occasion, attracting a large number of entries. The jury, chaired by Gerard Mortier, a leading Belgian opera director, chose the project by Paul Robbrecht and Hilde Daem, two architects from Ghent (a Flemish town not far from Bruges), from the shortlist of candidates. What influenced the jury was not so much the aesthetics of the building as the significant acoustic guarantees promised by the architects. After all, the building is also one of Flanders' leading theatres and a major concert hall. The foundation stone was laid on 13 June 2000, and the building was inaugurated 2 years later, on 20 February 2002, in the presence of the Belgian royal couple. The building is now one of the 1,001 buildings in the world to see before you die.