The 5 most striking modern buildings in Ghent

Some local people call it the sheep shed. Others consider it a sublime modern building. The controversial Stadshal doesn’t leave anyone indifferent. It was designed in 2012 by the partnership Robbrecht & Daem and Marie-José Van Hee to serve as a modern covered hall for concerts and events. It may have its critics, but it has won several architectural prizes for its daring design.

A striking new library opened in the spring of 2017 on a bend in the River Leie. Designed by Ralph Coussée, the sleek black building is intended as a library for the digital age. It includes a ground floor cafe, riverside terrace and monumental staircase.

It’s worth taking a look around this multilayered university building built by Xaveer De Geyter and Stéphane Beel. Constructed in 2006-10, the building occupies a sloping site where an old path once ran down to the river.

The Ghent architects de vylder vinck taillieu built this contemporary house on an empty plot of land. It blends in with the rest of the street and yet brings something fresh to urban living.

This striking project completed in 2013 incorporates a circular 19th-century workers’ housing complex and a new building with a convex façade. The development includes apartments, a restaurant and an exhibition space.