Bob Van Reeth

Biography

Bob Van Reeth started working as an architect in 1965 with designing buildings in Mechelen and Kalmthout. In 1972, he became a teacher at the Nationaal Hoger Instituut voor Bouwkunst (The National Higher Institute for Architecture) in Antwerp. The same year, he started the group Krokus with Jean-Paul Laenen and Marcel Smets. The group worked on the restoration of the old centre of Mechelen.

In the 1980s, Van Reeth designed a new building for the Onze-Lieve-Vrouwecollege in Antwerp. Later buildings include in 2007 a new wing for the Westvleteren Abbey, and the black-and-white Huis Van Roosmalen facing the Scheldt in Antwerp. Close by stands the Zuiderterras, a grand café on the quay. He also leads the company AWG (Architect Work Group) Architecten, which won the architectural concours for the design of a memorial and documentation centre about the Holocaust in Mechelen.

In January 1998, Van Reeth became the first Flemish Master Architect, a function he held until 1 June 2005 when Marcel Smets succeeded him.