The Boerentoren ( en, "Farmer's Tower"; officially the KBC Tower, originally the Torengebouw van Antwerpen) is a historic tall building in
Antwerp
Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504, , Belgium. Constructed between 1929 and 1932 and originally high, it remained the tallest building and the second tallest structure of any kind in the city (after the gothic
Cathedral of Our Lady) until 2019, when the
Antwerp Tower
The Antwerp Tower is a skyscraper in Antwerp ( Belgium). Originally built in 1974 with a height of , the Antwerp Tower was the third tallest building in Antwerp, behind the Cathedral of our Lady and the KBC tower. After the completion of an ex ...
surpassed it with a height of . At the time of construction it was the second tallest building in
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
by roof height (after
Telefónica Building
The Telefónica Building, in Spanish ''Edificio Telefónica'', is a skyscraper in Madrid, Spain. It is located in Gran Via 28. At the time of construction it was the tallest European skyscraper with 89 m of roof height, until in 1940, when th ...
).
Designed in
Art-deco
Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...
style, the Boerentoren is one of Europe's very first tall buildings. The Boerentoren remained the
tallest in Belgium until 1960, and is currently ranked 21st tallest in the country. In 1954 the tower was extended with an
antenna
Antenna ( antennas or antennae) may refer to:
Science and engineering
* Antenna (radio), also known as an aerial, a transducer designed to transmit or receive electromagnetic (e.g., TV or radio) waves
* Antennae Galaxies, the name of two collid ...
which reached to a total height of . In 1976, the roof of the tower was raised by , and the current roof height is therefore .
The building was designed by Jan Van Hoenacker.
In 2020, the company
Katoen Natie
Katoen Natie is an international logistics service provider and port operator. The company is present in 36 countries in five continents and employs about 13.000 people worldwide. In 2009 the company had 154 logistics platforms. Its headquart ...
acquired the tower with the intention of turning it into a cultural institution, while
The Phoebus Foundation
The Phoebus Foundation is an art foundation with philanthropic objectives. The foundation acquires works of art, guarantees a professional framework of conservation and management, and looks after the conservation and restoration of the objects. ...
chancellery will be responsible for organizing permanent and temporary exhibitions with works from its collection, alongside public and private collaborations.
Gallery
File:3959-Boerentoren.jpg, View of Boerentoren from base
File:Kbc antwerpen schoenmarkt.jpg, View of Boerentoren
File:Antwerpen 1930s Boerentoren.jpg, The Torengebouw van Antwerpen in the 1930s
File:WWII 109.B2.F6.18.jpg, Buzzbomb (V-1) damage to the Torengebouw during World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
File:WWII 109.B2.F6.19.jpg, Buzzbomb damage to the Torengebouw during World War II
References
External links
VRT News site
*
{{Tallest buildings and structures in Belgium
Art Deco skyscrapers
Skyscraper office buildings in Belgium
Art Deco architecture in Belgium
Buildings and structures in Antwerp
Buildings and structures completed in 1931