21 October 2025 Articles

Your vote makes the difference: give our heritage a future

Help us win the 2025 Heritage Challenge! Our water basin at the entrance of the ITM clinic is one of eight heritage gems competing for a prize from the KIK/IRPA (Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage).

Vote and give this unique piece of heritage a future

Vote here for our basin.

Voting is possible from 21 October 2025, to 1 February 2026.

5 reasons to vote for the basin

More than a fountain
The basin is not just beautiful, it was also part of an ingenious air ventilation system for the buildings... a century-old feat of innovation.
Publicly accessible heritage
The basin is located in the public garden of ITM, a green oasis in the heart of Antwerp. Everyone can enjoy it.
More water in the city
With the restoration of the basin, we are once again adding life and cooling to the city.
The grand prize truly makes a difference
The jury prize of €25,000 already covers half of the necessary restoration budget; a big step towards restoration.
It's only a small effort
Casting your vote is done in a jiffy.

Why your vote counts

With your vote, we have a chance at:

🥇 Grand Prize (Jury Prize): €25,000 and 1 year of support from KIK for fundraising

🥈 Public Prize: €10,000 for the project with the most votes

Every vote brings us closer to the restoration and further opening up of our historic water basin, a hidden monument that once was part of an innovative air ventilation system for the ITM buildings.

The Heritage Challenge is an initiative of the KIK/IRPA, with the support of the National Lottery.

Vote here (in French or Dutch)

A technical tour de force

The water basin was designed by the young architects Marcel Spittael and Paul Le Bon. They had won first prize in the competition for the construction of the Provincial Institute for Hygiene, first known as the 'health establishment' in Antwerp. The complex was built between 1925 and 1933 in the spirit of Art Deco. During construction, it was decided that the forerunner of the Institute of Tropical Medicine (ITM), the then School of Tropical Diseases in Brussels, had to move to Antwerp. The school received new statutes in 1931 and was housed together with the Provincial Institute in the current building in 1933.

The basin in front of the building measures almost twelve meters long, over three meters wide, and thirty centimeters deep. Originally, there was a fountain and a water curtain where water gracefully fell down past the gratings. Research showed that the basin was connected to an extensive system of pipes throughout the building, through which – via the water curtain – humidified air was drawn in, could be warmed up, and distributed throughout the building.

The basin thus served as an early form of air ventilation, a technical tour de force intended to promote both comfort and health.