Stedelijk Museum – Benthem Crouwel Architects
To restore the Stedelijk Museum’s prominence among the world’s leading institutions for modern and contemporary art, Benthem Crouwel Architects were commissioned to renovate and expand the museum’s historic 1895 building by A.W. Weismann. Situated on Museumplein, alongside the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh Museum, the project reinforces the Stedelijk’s cultural significance within Amsterdam’s museum district.
Benthem Crouwel introduced a bold, cantilevered white volume—nicknamed “the bathtub”—that contrasts sharply with the original architecture while integrating functionally and spatially. The new wing houses a grand entrance, contemporary galleries, and exhibition facilities, forming a seamless interior transition between old and new.
Inside, the spatial experience is unified through careful attention to lighting, circulation, and material continuity, while retaining the museum’s historic identity—including the signature use of white, introduced by former director Willem Sandberg.
