On May 17, 2011, Their Majesties King Albert II and Queen Paola of Belgium visited the Museum aan de Stroom (MAS) in Antwerp, Belgium.

The MAS museum was designed by Neutelings Riedijk Architects and completed in mid-2010.  According to the official website for the museum, MAS.be, the structure of the building:

…immediately catches your eye. Antwerp’s latest tower reminds us of the 16th-Century storehouses typical of the city of Antwerp and its port. The MAS is designed as a giant storehouse with stacked containers or “boxes”. These museum boxes are stacked in such a way that they create a spiral tower. As you ascend, you get a constantly changing view of the city. A breathtaking 360° panorama awaits you on the roof.

Since its initial completion it took sometime to move the permanent collections into the museum which officially opened today thus the reason Their Majesties visit.  The museum houses, “… ethnological, maritime, ethnic and art historic collections…” 

To learn more about the Museum aan de Stroom please visit their site here.  To view photos of His Majesty King Albert and Queen Paola of Belgium at the MAS this afternoon please click the link here.

Source: MAS.be  Photo courtesy of:  Nieuwsblad.be by Belga