The story behind this incredible optical illusion church

Do you have a Facebook account? Then you've probably noticed these images of an optical illusion church in Borgloon, Belgium after they went viral.

The sculpture titled 'Reading Between the Lines' was designed by art/architecture firm Gijs Van Vaerenbergh, run by Pieterjan Gijs and Arnout Van Vaerenbergh.

It was built in September 2011, and Arnout tells i100.co.uk he has recently seen reports of a copycat project in Changsha, China. Arnout considers the project to be art rather architecture, saying: "The question here was not build us a church but make us a piece of art."

We didn’t expect it to be this popular but I think it has something to do with the very universal image we produced. As architects but also as artists we are fascinated by typology – everybody recognises because it’s very universal.

The sculpture is now being used as a space for people to meet and view the countryside, and Gijs Van Vaerenbergh are currently working on a maze project titled Labyrint.

All pictures: copyright Filip Dujardin

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