10 years of the new Rijksmuseum by Cruz y Ortiz Arquitectos
15/04/2023.
[Amsterdam] The Netherlands
metalocus, OSCAR A. SÁNCHEZ
metalocus, OSCAR A. SÁNCHEZ
The new Rijksmuseum celebrates 10 years since its inauguration on April 13, 2013, in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. The building underwent a profound remodelling by the Spanish architects, Cruz y Ortiz, which lasted 13 years in one of the most important museum challenges in Europe, to adapt the historic institution to the needs of the 21st century.
Since then, the museum's transformation project has received the most important European awards, including Best European Museum 2015, awarded by the European Forum of Museums (Council of Europe). It has exceeded expectations regarding capacity data, in 2013 they set the ambitious goal of 2 million visitors. In 2019 they reached 2.7 million.
Since then, the museum's transformation project has received the most important European awards, including Best European Museum 2015, awarded by the European Forum of Museums (Council of Europe). It has exceeded expectations regarding capacity data, in 2013 they set the ambitious goal of 2 million visitors. In 2019 they reached 2.7 million.
The Rijksmuseum by Cruz y Ortiz Arquitectos. Photograph by Duccio Malagamba.
The Rijksmuseum by Cruz y Ortiz Arquitectos. Photograph by Duccio Malagamba.
The Rijksmuseum by Cruz y Ortiz Arquitectos. Photograph by Duccio Malagamba.
The Rijksmuseum by Cruz y Ortiz Arquitectos. Photograph by Duccio Malagamba.
The Rijksmuseum by Cruz y Ortiz Arquitectos. Photograph by Duccio Malagamba.
The Rijksmuseum by Cruz y Ortiz Arquitectos. Photograph by Duccio Malagamba.
The Rijksmuseum by Cruz y Ortiz Arquitectos. Photograph by Duccio Malagamba.
The Rijksmuseum by Cruz y Ortiz Arquitectos. Photograph by Duccio Malagamba.
The Rijksmuseum by Cruz y Ortiz Arquitectos. Photograph by Duccio Malagamba.
The Rijksmuseum by Cruz y Ortiz Arquitectos. Photograph by Duccio Malagamba.
The Rijksmuseum by Cruz y Ortiz Arquitectos. Photograph by Duccio Malagamba.
The Rijksmuseum by Cruz y Ortiz Arquitectos. Photograph by Duccio Malagamba.
Site plan. The Rijksmuseum by Cruz y Ortiz Arquitectos.
Basement floor plan. The Rijksmuseum by Cruz y Ortiz Arquitectos.
Ground floor plan. The Rijksmuseum by Cruz y Ortiz Arquitectos.
First floor plan. The Rijksmuseum by Cruz y Ortiz Arquitectos.
Second floor plan. The Rijksmuseum by Cruz y Ortiz Arquitectos.
Third floor plan. The Rijksmuseum by Cruz y Ortiz Arquitectos.
Roof plan. The Rijksmuseum by Cruz y Ortiz Arquitectos.
Elevation. The Rijksmuseum by Cruz y Ortiz Arquitectos.
Section. The Rijksmuseum by Cruz y Ortiz Arquitectos.
Section. The Rijksmuseum by Cruz y Ortiz Arquitectos.
Section. The Rijksmuseum by Cruz y Ortiz Arquitectos.
Detail. The Rijksmuseum by Cruz y Ortiz Arquitectos.
Detail. The Rijksmuseum by Cruz y Ortiz Arquitectos.
Detail. The Rijksmuseum by Cruz y Ortiz Arquitectos.
Detail. The Rijksmuseum by Cruz y Ortiz Arquitectos.
Detail. The Rijksmuseum by Cruz y Ortiz Arquitectos.
Detail. The Rijksmuseum by Cruz y Ortiz Arquitectos.
Detail. The Rijksmuseum by Cruz y Ortiz Arquitectos.
Detail. The Rijksmuseum by Cruz y Ortiz Arquitectos.
Detail. The Rijksmuseum by Cruz y Ortiz Arquitectos.
Detail. The Rijksmuseum by Cruz y Ortiz Arquitectos.
Detail. The Rijksmuseum by Cruz y Ortiz Arquitectos.
Detail. The Rijksmuseum by Cruz y Ortiz Arquitectos.
Detail. The Rijksmuseum by Cruz y Ortiz Arquitectos.
Detail. The Rijksmuseum by Cruz y Ortiz Arquitectos.
Detail. The Rijksmuseum by Cruz y Ortiz Arquitectos.
Ground floor demolition plan. The Rijksmuseum by Cruz y Ortiz Arquitectos.
Demolition section. The Rijksmuseum by Cruz y Ortiz Arquitectos.
Model. The Rijksmuseum by Cruz y Ortiz Arquitectos.
For their part, the career and work of the architects Cruz y Ortiz have been notably recognized, having been distinguished as Knights of the Royal Order of the Dutch Lion, the most prestigious civil order in the Netherlands, or the International Spanish Architecture Award, the highest award granted by the CSCAE to works carried out outside of Spain. (Higher Council of Colleges of Architects of Spain).
This renovation, expansion and transformation are considered one of the most complex heritage interventions of the 21st century, due to the technical difficulties, to which were added the complex orographic conditions, and above all due to the character of the building and the institution it houses, which defines itself as the "physical memory of the nation."
Cruz y Ortiz's intervention in the building consisted, on the one hand, of opening a new and unique entrance to the museum, occupying the central nave of the passage. On the other, in freeing up the courtyards and exhibition spaces, recovering to a certain extent their original state and their dimensions.
The work during those thirteen years was enormous and of tremendous dedication, which remains latent but hidden from the eyes of the visitor who perceives the intervention from elements that have characterized the image of the project. Limestone was one of the materials that defined the intervention in the new spaces created for access, patios, with slightly sloping floors that are connected under the passage, and on each of them, a structure with acoustic and acoustic missions has been suspended. lighting, baptized by the architects as the «chandeliers».
The Rijksmuseum by Cruz y Ortiz Arquitectos. Photograph by Duccio Malagamba.
The Rijksmuseum by Cruz y Ortiz Arquitectos. Photograph by Duccio Malagamba.
Description of project by Cruz y Ortiz
The Rijksmuseum building in Amsterdam was designed at the end of the 19th century by the Dutch architect Pieter Cuypers. The program of the building was double: on the one hand, a national museum, and on the other, a gateway to the south of Amsterdam.
Museum use has had to pay an extraordinarily high price for the urban role of the building as a connecting element between the then existing city -to the north- and the new developments to the south. A passage, practically a street, crosses the building from north to south, dividing it into two parts, forcing the museum to have two entrances -both facing north- and two main stairs, and causing the east areas to be connected only on the main floor. and west in which the building is divided by the passage into its two lower floors.
The needs for exhibition space had led to building in the courtyards of the original building, which had caused a total lack of natural light and turned the tour of the museum into a labyrinthine experience in which the visitor lacked any information about his position in the space. building.
The Rijksmuseum by Cruz y Ortiz Arquitectos. Photograph by Duccio Malagamba.
The intervention in the building consisted, on the one hand, of opening a new and unique entrance to the museum, occupying the central nave of the passage, and on the other, of freeing up the patios and exhibition spaces, recovering to a certain extent their original state or at minus its dimensions.
The large space that is generated by opening and connecting the patios houses all the essential uses to receive visitors and constitutes a worthy space on the scale that the grandeur of the building deserves. This hall is accessed from the passage and from there, the routes to the exhibition areas begin, linking up with the large original stairs.
In the new space created, limestone has been used. The patios, with slightly sloping floors, are connected under the passage, and a structure with acoustic and lighting missions has been suspended over each of them: the “chandeliers”.
More information
Architects
Cruz y Ortiz Arquitectos. Lead architects.- Antonio Cruz, Antonio Ortiz.
Project team
Alicia López, Ana Vila, Carlos Arévalo, Clara Hernández, Iko Mennenga, Jan Kolle, Joaquín Pérez-Goicoechea, José Luís Mayén, Juan Carlos Mulero, Luis Gutiérrez, Marije Ter Steege, Marta Pelegrín, Mercedes Pérez, Miguel Velasco, Muriel Huisman, Óscar García de la Cámara, Rocío Peinado, Rosa Melero, Sara Gutiérrez, Thomas Offermans, Tirma Reventós, Víctor Breña, Victoria Bernícola.
Collaborators
Local architect.- ADP architecten.
Landscape.- Copijn Tuin-en landschapsarchitecten.
Restoration.- Van Hoogevest Architecten.
Model.- Jacinto Gómez.
Structural engineering.- Arcadis.
Climate engineering.- Arup, DGMR.
Fire Protection.- DGMR.
Landscape.- Copijn Tuin-en landschapsarchitecten.
Restoration.- Van Hoogevest Architecten.
Model.- Jacinto Gómez.
Structural engineering.- Arcadis.
Climate engineering.- Arup, DGMR.
Fire Protection.- DGMR.
Client
Programmadirectie Het Nieuwe Rijksmuseum.
Builder
BAM Utiliteitsbouw Regio Amsterdam BV, Homij, Hömy, JP van Eesteren, Koninklijke Woudenberg, Kuipers, Moehringen, Unica.
Area
45,000 m².
Dates
2001-2013.
Location
Museumstraat, 1. 1071 Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Photography
Antonio Cruz, Antonio Ortiz. CRUZ Y ORTIZ ARQUITECTOS
Architects Antonio Cruz and Antonio Ortiz started their professional careers in 1971, after graduating from Escuela Superior de Arquitectura in Madrid. In addition to the transformation of the Rijksmuseum, their most well-known projects include the new Atletico de Madrid Stadium, which will also be the new Olympic Stadium if the Madrid 2020 Olympic bid is successful (due for completion in 2016); the Spanish Pavilion at the Hannover 2000 Expo; the Cartuja Stadium in Seville (1999); the extension to the SBB Railway Station in Basel, Switzerland (2003); Seville Public Library (1999); the Stadium of the Community of Madrid(2012); the Huelva Bus Station (1994); Santa Justa Railway Station in Seville (1991); and a housing project on Dona Maria Coronel Street, Seville (1976).
In 2002 Cruz y Ortiz opened a studio in Amsterdam, and the firm's other Dutch projects include the Atelier Building (Rijksmuseum - Amsterdam, 2007), residences Patio Sevilla (Ceramique - Maastricht, 2000) and Java-eiland (Amsterdam, 1994).
Antonio Cruz and Antonio Ortiz have been visiting professors at the Lausanne and Zurich polytechnics as well as at Cornell and Columbia universities and at the Escuela de Arquitectura de Pamplona. They have held the Kenzo Tange Professorship at Harvard's Graduate School of Design, and since 2004 have been honorary professors at the Universidad de Sevilla and occupied the Catedra Blanca at the Escuela de Arquitectura. Antonio Cruz and Antonio Ortiz have received, among others, the Premio Nacional de Arquitectura Espanola, the Premio Ciudad de Sevilla, the Premio Ciudad de Madrid, the Brunei 92 International Award, the Premio Construmat and the Premio de la Fundacion C.E.O.E. On two occasions, they have been runners-up for the Mies van der Rohe Award. In 1997 they were awarded the Gold Medal of Andalusia for their work in the field of architecture, and in 2008 they obtained the Premio Andalucia de Arquitectura for the Basel Railway Station extension.
