Spanish architects Cruz y Ortis, who have been renovating the Rijksmuseum for ten years, have completed a comprehensive restoration of its Philips wing. Recall that the renovation of the main museum complex was completed in the spring of 2013, and during it, in the main museum of the Netherlands, among other innovations, the courtyards were covered with translucent structures and deepened (Archi.ru wrote about this in detail). It was the deepening of the courtyards that led to the postponement of the opening of the main building from 2008 to 2013, since it was necessary to solve the problem of groundwater and the gradual settlement of the building. But while the Rijksmuseum was closed, its Philips wing remained open to visitors. Then, with the opening of the permanent exhibition in the renovated main building, this building was in turn closed for restoration. And now, with the completion of the Philips wing, the whole large-scale epic of the restoration of the Dutch Rijksmuseum has ended.
The refurbished Philips wing is intended for major temporary exhibitions, drawn from both the museum's holdings and works borrowed from other national and international collections. The architects reoriented the entrance to the building, equipped exhibition halls, and added new functions. At the same time, some of the halls have retained their previous, pre-restoration exhibits.
According to the authors of the project, the main spatial concept in the main building consists of two courtyards around which exhibition galleries are “wrapped”. Cruz y Ortis only supported this initial feature of the construction by setting up a modern public space in the courtyards, providing a solemn entrance to the museum, as well as a lot of light and air in the interior. This became one of the main factors in the success of the project.
In the reconstruction of the Philips wing, a similar technique was used. The courtyard of the building, inaccessible to daylight since the late 1940s, was reopened. Thus, the unity of all buildings of the museum is clearly emphasized. Leaving the spacious western courtyard of the main building through the southwest entrance, the visitor walks along a bright corridor along the Asian Pavilion, then, turning at the end of the path, finds himself under a lowered ceiling and enters the chamber atrium of the Philips Wing.
As in the main building, a pleasant harmony of old and new is found in the Philips building, reminiscent of the ingenious transformation of historical buildings into museums that made Carlo Scarpa famous. Like the Italian master, the Spaniards Antonio Cruz and Antonio Ortiz are characterized by simultaneous work with the historical and modern layers of architecture, an interest in details, and functionality of solutions. Their "interventions" do not try to disguise themselves, they are emphatically modern, while completely unobtrusive and dissolve in the environment. The two temporary layers of a building can be viewed together or separately. On the one hand, the visitor will meet the signs of the XXI century in the form of Portuguese limestone Cascogne Azul, acoustic panels (aka chandeliers), bright white walls, solid and elegant gray railings, new entrances and doors. On the other hand, all the charm of the wing's courtyard is built around the façade of the Breda castle, whose grace is aptly emphasized by the minimalist framing.
The facade of the Breda Castle is perhaps the largest exhibit of the Rijksmuseum, reaching 20 m in length and 3.5 m in height. The façade was part of the castle's stables, one of the earliest Renaissance buildings in Northern Europe: it dates back to the 2nd quarter of the 16th century. During the reconstruction of the castle in the 19th century, the façade was dismantled and transported from Breda to Amsterdam, where it became the outer wall of the part of the museum, now the Philips wing. After the expansion of this building, the facade turned out to be in the courtyard. With the reconstruction of the Philips wing, the history of this architectural monument has developed: now it is again available for inspection.
