The “Museum on the River”, as its name is translated, is a 65-meter 10-tier tower surrounded by a spacious square with terraces and pavilions. Both the buildings and the ground are covered with hand-hewn slabs of red Indian sandstone from Agra. In total, four shades of this stone were used; the arrangement of the slabs of different colors was chosen at random using a computer. To somewhat soften the monumentality of the volume of the building, aluminum decorative elements in the shape of a hand, the symbol of Antwerp, are placed on the slabs (they also remind of individuals and institutions that donated funds for the construction). In the interior, this motif is continued by metal medallions with inscriptions invented by the writer Tom Lanoye.
The stone cladding of the façade is interspersed with sections of corrugated glass that mark the layout of the "spiral gallery" that unites all floors of the museum. In it and in other rooms, ethnographic and historical collections dedicated to the city and the rest of the world, as well as the close centuries-old connection of Antwerp with other countries and continents, are exhibited: it still remains the largest port in the world, second only to Rotterdam in terms of cargo turnover in Europe. Therefore, it is especially valuable that the museum is built on the banks of the Scheldt, in the area of the old docks. The museum's rooftop terrace overlooking the city connects history and modernity for visitors at the end of the tour.
The area around the museum is a multifunctional public space. The recess in its central part serves as a "frame" for the mosaic by Luc Tuymans.
