Photography: Tijs Vervecken
30 / 09 / 2026
Text: João Cardozo
Designed by Francesca Oggioni, this pied-à-terre in central Antwerp has become a family cabinet of curiosities.
In the beginning, there were sculptures. From them, drawings were born. The Belgian Symbolist sculptor George Minne has been a part of this couple’s lives for decades, and it was the stillness of his works that charted the course of this project – not simply as ornament, but as its genesis.
The raison d’être of this home is called Christian. But the one who gives shape to it is Francesca Oggioni. Her husband’s connection to Flemish culture, maintained for more than three decades while living away from Antwerp, helped give rise to the idea; it was up to Francesca to express it through architecture.
The raison d’être of this home is called Christian. But the one who gives shape to it is Francesca Oggioni. Her husband’s connection to Flemish culture, maintained for more than three decades while living away from Antwerp, helped give rise to the idea; it was up to Francesca to express it through architecture.
The apartment occupies a former graphic arts building in the city’s historic centre: the Cathedral of Our Lady is just a few steps away, and the Royal Academy of Fine Arts is directly opposite. What began as a second home has evolved into a veritable universe of personal treasures.
The joinery, also designed by Francesca, frames the rooms as a central feature: a continuous structure where books, works of art and objects coexist in harmony, revealing stories of those who live there. Gathered over a lifetime, they have finally found their place. No single piece was planned to dominate the space. The intention was different: to create a meditative atmosphere, suspended in time.
For more information, visit Francesca Oggioni website.
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