Borgloon Transparent Church

Reading Between the Lines was built in 2011 by the architects Gijs Van Vaerenbergh, a partnership of two young Belgians, on a rise in the orchards outside Borgloon: a ten-metre-high sculpture in the outline of a small local chapel, constructed from a hundred stacked horizontal steel plates separated by gaps, so that depending on the angle it reads as a solid building or dissolves entirely and you see straight through it to the fields behind. Walking around it makes it appear and disappear. There is nothing inside but a floor and the view. It has become the emblem of the Haspengouw region and is the destination of a short marked walk and cycle route from Borgloon through the orchards.

What you actually see

• A church that disappears - stacked steel plates solid from one angle, transparent from another.
• A hundred horizontal layers - the construction that produces the effect.
• Orchard setting - the Haspengouw fruit country around it.
• The walk from Borgloon - a marked route through the trees.

When to go

April to October, with blossom in late April and fruit in September. One hour including the walk out. Sunset light is when it works best. Weekends bring a steady stream of photographers.

Honest expectations

It is one sculpture and takes twenty minutes; the walk is the rest. There is no shelter, no facilities and no parking at the site itself. It is busy at weekends with people queuing for the same photograph. In flat light the effect is weaker.

Nearby

Borgloon is a short walk; the Haspengouw blossom routes run through the region.