The House of the Five Continents (“Huis de Vijf Werelddelen”), probably the most original Art Nouveau structure in the city, nicknamed “'t Bootje” (“The Little Boat”), due to the second-floor loggia in the form of a ship’s prow that emerges at the corner of the structure.

It is actually a complex of four houses designed for the well-heeled shipbuilder P. Roeis, hence the ship forms and name, which also references Antwerp’s longstanding stature as a global port.

It is situated at the angle of Schilderstraat and Plaatsnijdersstraat and was built to designs of Frans Smet-Vehas in 1901.

#art #artnouveau #Antwerp #Belgium

Pictures from Wikicommons and Flemish Heritage Real Estate site