…a sales assistant tells me, as I
scan bookshelves generously stocked with English as well as Dutch works.
"We are not so religious. Yes, we have more mosques now - but we have also
a lot of empty churches." And here's a great thing to do with such
atmospheric yet dormant spaces. I'm in central Maastricht, standing in what
must be one of the finest bookshops in the world. That's quite a claim. Yet who
could fail to be thrilled by this extraordinary venture?
Completed in 2007 by Merkx + Girod
Architecten, the Selexyz Dominicanen Bookstore is an incredible church
conversion that was originally consecrated in 1294. Located between
Maastricht’s two major squares (the Markt and the Vrijthof), the bookstore is
run by a large Dutch chain in collaboration with the city council of
Maastricht.
The location has not been used as
a church for over 200 years. Before becoming a bookstore it served as bicycle
storage, exam hall for students, a Christmas market and venue for various shows
and events. While some may find this usage peculiar, there are actually a
significant number of abandoned churches in the Netherlands, many of them
hundreds of years old.
With land being a premium in the
country, local governments have opted to convert and restore (just look at
those ceilings!) rather than demolish these historic abandoned buildings.
The Dominican church in
Maastricht strikes just the right note. Its architects deserve a blessing.
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