Beach Castle, Jean-François Fourtou

Jean-François Fourtou’s tower, built out of beach cabins, welcomes you when riding into the town of Knokke-Heist. It gives the impression that the cabins were sucked into the air by a gust of storm and scattered around, after which they accidentally got stuck together. Given his fascination for architecture, it’s no surprise that the beach cabins caught Fourtou’s attention. The cabins are as old as Belgian tourism and were initially used primarily by women for changing. The various types of cabins found on the Belgian coast are all integrated into Beach Castle. On the prestigious Maurice Lippensplein the work gets the allure of a totem that represents the entire coast. The tower can be seen as a monument of beach culture.