Ghent's architecture and design highlights for a weekend visit
This guide maps an architecture and design itinerary through Ghent, Belgium, as the city's Design Museum reopens. Stops include S.M.A.K., the Herbert Foundation, the Boekentoren, Wintercircus, Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens, the Van Wassenhove House, and the Design Museum. Ghent combines UNESCO-listed medieval landmarks with notable modernist and Brutalist buildings.
Ghent’s Design Museum is reopening, prompting a design-focused weekend route through the city. The itinerary spans S.M.A.K., the Herbert Foundation, the Boekentoren, Wintercircus, Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens, the Van Wassenhove House and the Design Museum. Alongside UNESCO-listed medieval sites such as Gravensteen and St Bavo’s Cathedral, visitors can encounter modernist and Brutalist architecture, including the 1930s Book Tower and Juliaan Lampens’ house.
At S.M.A.K., an exhibition marks 40 years of “Chambres d’Amis,” Jan Hoet’s 1986 project that placed 51 artists’ site-specific works in local homes. Daniel Buren’s reconstructed guest room, with its inverted pink wall painting, remains on view until January 2027. The Get, Glenn Sestig’s former-supermarket gallery, opens “Wunderkammer Reimagined” on 2 October 2026.
Reopening Design Museum and design itinerary may draw culturally curious travelers to Ghent, potentially supporting local museums, galleries, cafes, hotels, and guides. Residents could see increased foot traffic and renewed attention to modernist and Brutalist heritage, which may encourage preservation and public programming. It could also broaden tourism beyond Belgium’s larger cities, though benefits may depend on how visitors distribute spending and respect neighborhood life.