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PROJECT / RIJKSMUSEUM, AMSTERDAM , THE NETHERLANDS Photo: Roos Aldershoff
Rogier van der Heide is Vice President of Royal Philips and Chief Design Officer of Philips Lighting since 2010. Before that, he was Director of Arup and Global Leader of Arup Lighting, a role that he took on after his lighting design atelier Hollands Licht was acquired by Arup in 2003. mondo*arc editor Paul James spoke to him at the Rijksmuseum to find out the full story...
How did you get involved with the Rijksmuseum?
The Rijksmuseum started its renovation in, I think, 1995, with architect Hans Ruijssenaars of Amsterdam. At that time I ran Hollands Licht, and Hans and myself had done lots of projects together. He introduced me several years later to the Rijksmuseum’s director at that time, Ronald de Leeuw. I got the assignment and started working on the lower level spaces (now the Medieval Galleries and Special Collections) as well as the Gallery of Honour with its combined daylighting and electric lighting approach. In 1999 Mr. De Leeuw announced a design competition to find a new architect. Cruz y Ortiz Arquitectos from Sevilla, Spain, won the assignment in 2001. I moved to Arup, who had become involved in the concept design of the museum’s mechanical and electrical principles and installations. I reached out to the museum’s director again in 2004, shortly after Cruz
& Ortiz had presented their preliminary design. Mr. De Leeuw made it clear that it was not a given that we would continue working on the lighting design. He rightly insisted that the new architects had to agree with the choice of lighting designer, as he clearly saw that the architectural concept of the re-created open courtyards calling for a tight integration of light and architecture.
So, how did the architects Cruz y Ortiz see that?
Antonio Cruz and Antonio Ortiz, we called them ‘The Antonios’, had a clear idea not only about the objectives of the lighting but also about the way they wanted to work together with the lighting designer. I went to Seville to speak with them and found a team that approached the project with utmost care and a profound sensitivity for history, authenticity, and the many stories of the building. The vast building complex
The courtyards were opened up again, and now have ‘chandeliers’ that provide both lighting and improved acoustics.
of the Rijksmuseum was designed by Dutch architect Pierre Cuypers and completed in 1885, and is very elaborate in its detailing, decoration and aesthetics. Over the many years after its inauguration, the Dutch government had subsequently ‘soberised’ the building: murals were painted white, golden decorations removed, yellow clay stone bricks covered in white stucco and so forth. Moreover, in the courtyards, buildings were added to accomodate the expanding museum. Cruz & Ortiz were briefed to design a ‘Return to Cuypers’ as it was called in the competition brief: a vulnerable approach to the museum, giving it back its sensitivity and from time to time fragile appearance. They wanted to re-create the Rijksmuseum’s attraction: not only as a collection but also as an architectural masterpiece.
During these first conversations I responded that we could softly light the architectural boundaries of the spaces, notably the
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