Bob Van Reeth

Bob Van Reeth, who usually signed as bOb Van Reeth, was a Belgian architect.

Life and career

Bob Van Reeth started working as an architect in 1965 with designing buildings in Mechelen and Kalmthout. In 1972, he became a teacher at the Nationaal Hoger Instituut voor Bouwkunst in Antwerp. The same year, he started the group Krokus with Jean-Paul Laenen and Marcel Smets. The group worked on the restoration of the old centre of Mechelen.
In the 1980s, Van Reeth designed a new building for the Onze-Lieve-Vrouwecollege in Antwerp. Later buildings include in 2007 a new wing for the Westvleteren Abbey, and the black-and-white Huis Van Roosmalen facing the Scheldt in Antwerp. Close by stands the Zuiderterras, a grand café on the quay. He also led the company AWG Architecten, which won the architectural concours for the design of a memorial and documentation centre about the Holocaust in Mechelen.
In January 1998, Van Reeth became the first Flemish Government Architect, a function he held until 1 June 2005 when Marcel Smets succeeded him.
Van Reeth died on 30 September 2025, at the age of 82.