Guided tour
On Saturday 25 April, VAi and Women* in Architecture Belgium (W*IAB) are organising a guided heritage walk. Walking with Eliane Havenith follows one of the first Belgian women* architects through Antwerp. This is not a classic architecture tour, but a route that highlights the many roles Eliane took on, from designer to urban planner and writer. Researcher Femke Van Dycke guides you through a story of legitimacy, (in)visibility, and parallel practices.
Eliane Havenith's architectural story includes a series of firsts that no one had achieved before her. She was the first woman* to graduate from the Academy in Antwerp with an officially recognized degree in architecture, one of the first women* to win an architectural competition, and one of the first female* lecturers at an architecture school.
During this heritage walk, we literally follow in the footsteps of one of Belgium's first women* architects. We explore how her career developed in relation to the obstacles she faced as a woman* and follow the parallel paths she took within the field of architecture.
This is not a traditional architectural walk that takes you from building to building. Instead, we explore the various roles that Eliane has taken on within the field. We discover her as a designer, but also as a teacher, urbanist and writer.
Walking with Eliane Havenith is an invitation to collectively reflect on authorship, legacy, and visibility in architecture. The walk shows that the question of who is considered an architect can be answered in several ways. This perspective opens the door to a more inclusive understanding of architecture and heritage, both in the past and the present.
The guided walk starts at the Academy of Fine Arts in Mutsaardstraat and lasts approximately two hours, covering 3.5 km. Researcher Femke Van Dycke will guide us. For her master's thesis, she wrote a biography about Eliane Havenith, bringing her out of the shadows of Belgian architectural history.
The walk ends at the VAi, in De Singel, where we conclude with a moment of reflection and a drink.
Afterwards, there is an optional opportunity to visit the exhibition Unfolding the Archives #9 — Feministische Perspectieven 1980–1990.
Exhibition
Today, there are numerous initiatives advocating for an equitable architecture sector. Thus, the historical Union of Women* Architects in Belgium (ufvAb) is now called ‘Women* in Architecture Belgium (W*IAB)’, and there is also the ‘Platform for Architecture & Feminism’. Unfolding the Archives #9: Feminist Perspectives 1980–1990 looks back at Flanders in the 1980s, when the struggle for gender equality also reached the architecture sector.
03.04.2026 - 28.06.2026
DE SINGEL, Antwerp
25.04.2026
13.00h
Academy for Fine Arts - Academie voor Schone Kunsten
Mutsaardstraat 31, Antwerp
16.00h
End location: Flanders Architecture Institute (VAi)
DE SINGEL
Desguinlei 25, Antwerp
English
Approximately 2 hours · 3.5 km · 8 stops
Researcher Femke Van Dycke
Author of the master's thesis on Eliane Havenith, Een vergeten architecte (A Forgotten Architect), 2024, University of Antwerp
Free of admission, upon registration via online form
(limited capacity)
Freed visit to the exhibition
Unfolding the Archives #9 — Feminist Perspectives 1980–1990
DE SINGEL (Exhibition Hall)
Desguinlei 25, Antwerp
This walk is a co-production of VAi x Women in Architecture Belgium (W*iAB) as part of their Reflective Cartography project.
* We use an asterisk after women* to express inclusivity and to draw attention to the diversity within this group. The asterisk indicates that the term does not refer solely to cisgender women (women whose gender identity corresponds to the sex assigned to them at birth), but also includes trans women, non-binary people who identify with femininity, and other gender identities that fall under the umbrella of womanhood. Using the asterisk helps us communicate a broader and more inclusive definition of femininity.
