New Rijksmuseum by Cruz y Ortiz
24/03/2013.
Opening. [Amsterdam] The Netherlands. 13/04/2013
metalocus, JOSÉ JUAN BARBA
metalocus, JOSÉ JUAN BARBA
The Rijksmuseum has been housed in the current building, designed by Dutch architect Pierre Cuypers (1827 – 1921), since 1885. The building endured more than a century of intensive use before major renovation plans were put in place.
Spanish architects Cruz y Ortiz Arquitectos of Seville have transformed the 19th century building into a museum for the 21st century. Parisian museum designer Jean-Michel Wilmotte has devised the interior design for the galleries, fusing 19th-century grandeur with modern design.
Description Rijksmuseum Ámsterdam.-
Design Overview
Following a European tender process, Spanish architects Cruz y Ortiz Arquitectos of Seville were chosen by a committee chaired by the chief government architect Jo Coenen to lead the transformation of the Rijksmuseum. Cruz y Ortiz proposed minimal alterations to the building itself. The firm has recreated the clear layout conceived by the museum’s original architect, Pierre Cuypers, stripping the building of its later additions to ensure that it is once again a coherent whole.
The result transforms the 19th-century building into a bright and spacious 21st-century museum. The new Rijksmuseum features an impressive new entrance area; a new Asian Pavilion; a new outdoor exhibition space and garden; state-of-the-art facilities including new dining spaces, a shop, a restored library and auditorium; renewed education facilities, a new service entrance, a separate building for the conservation of the collection; and climate-control and security features, which are in line with today’s requirements.
Also restored to their former glory are the high-ceilinged, spacious, late 19th-century galleries. In keeping with the plan to restore the building where possible, the original monumental ornaments that decorated the walls and ceilings will be returned to the Gallery of Honour, the Grand Hall, the Night Watch Gallery and the stairwells. Cuypers‘ hallmark is best preserved in the library where the original design and ornaments have largely been maintained.
The French interior architect Jean-Michel Wilmotte, whose work for the Louvre has earned him international acclaim, was invited to devise the interior design for the transformed Rijksmuseum. He has created all display elements for the galleries that complement the restored 19th-century museum, including the display cases, plinths, lighting and furniture. In consultation with Cruz y Ortiz, Wilmotte has also determined the interior colour scheme, which has been inspired by Pierre Cuypers’ palette for the building.
Atrium
Cruz y Ortiz has created an impressive new entrance area suitable for the needs of a leading international museum. The museum’s two inner courtyards have now been opened up, with the removal of galleries that were added in the 1950s and 1960s. A two-part, 2,250 square-metre Atrium has been created by sinking the floor of the two courtyards below ground level and connecting them via an underground zone beneath the original passageway through the building. The Atrium can be accessed from the passageway, which features glass walls through which passersby can admire the view of the courtyards.
The Atrium features large glass-covered roofs and pale polished Portuguese stone floors that reflect the natural light, making the voluminous courtyard spaces feel airy and bright. Overlooking the courtyards are the warm brick façades of the surrounding museum buildings, interspersed with windows and niches.
The light-filled Atrium is a welcoming space in the heart of the museum and can be accessed by all visitors even without a ticket. Located within the entrance area are a café, the ticketing booth and a cloakroom.
Asian Pavilion
Designed by Cruz y Ortiz, the free-standing Asian Pavilion is situated facing the Museumplein in the garden to the south of the Rijksmuseum and is surrounded by water. The irregular-shaped, two-storey structure stands out against the red brick walls of the Rijksmuseum, with its walls faced in pale Portuguese stone and glass. It is characterised by many sloping walls and unusual sightlines. The pavilion is linked to the main building via an underground passageway.
The Atelier Building
Developed by the Government Buildings Agency and commissioned by the Rijksmuseum and the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (OCW), the Atelier Building is the first structure by Cruz y Ortiz to be completed as part of the Rijksmuseum renovation.
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.