Antwerp, Belgium’s great port city and best kept travel secret, started a three day celebration bash yesterday to launch its audacious new MAS museum. The spectacular 10-story museum, which takes its name from the Dutch acronym for Museum on the River (Museum aan de Stroom), is built of stacked, cantilevered boxes clad in red Rajastani sandstone punctuated by undulating, glass ribbon curtains.

Situated at the site of the old Hanzehuis port depot, the MAS is the linchpin of a huge project to revitalize the port district. Offering everything from rare Flemish Renaissance paintings to pre-Columbian pottery, the MAS has a staggering collection of almost 500,000 items from private benefactors and former museum collections. An interesting feature of the museum is the “Visible Store” gallery, which is a depot containing 180,00 items on ingenious pull-out racks.