Panamarenko's Antwerp Home Becomes Permanent Museum

The former home and studio of Belgian artist Panamarenko (born 1940) in Antwerp's northern Biekorfstraat district has been transformed into a permanent public exhibition space, opening January 17, 2013. Panamarenko lived there with toucans and parrots from 1970 to 2002 before moving to a farm near Brakel. He bequeathed the property to the Flemish Community in 2005, with management by M HKA and the Panamarenko Collectief. Architect Luc Deleu & TOP Office led the renovation, adding a helicopter platform (Airbase) visible on Google Earth, inspired by the Olympic Challenger ship's helideck. The facade was repainted in Deleu's signature khaki color, referencing Panamarenko's early persona as a mock Soviet-American general. Inside, two mechanical crow models were placed behind the garage door, described by project leader Hans Willemse as an 'authentic falsification.' The site includes a neon sign by Panamarenko visible from the street, and a greenhouse previously added by Deleu with gold-leaf details by Panamarenko. The upper floor serves as an artist residency. Panamarenko's work is featured in Documenta 5 (1972) and major collections, with auction prices reaching high sums. The project merges Panamarenko's speculative engineering with Deleu's 'orbanism' concept, which advocates for planetary-scale urban planning. A video archive of Panamarenko's work is available on Cobra.be.