Benthem Crouwel 1980-2000
by Kirsten Schipper
Category: Architectural firms

Schiphol Airport, the Anne Frank House, the new Utrecht Central Station - these are all acclaimed buildings by Benthem Crouwel Architekten. Buildings that are used by millions, buildings at crucial high-profile places. "BC AD" offers a new look at the firm's substantial body of work, with a welter of previously unpublished material giving insight into how the firm works. It extends from the first beginnings - the Dutch customs stations and the experimental house in Almere - to the stations for the Amsterdam North-South metro link and the Stedelijk Museum. In "BC AD", many built works mingle with entries to often high-profile competitions and numerous studies. Drawings, sketches, photographs, scale models - all articulate the architects' enthusiasm for resolving complicated issues. The strength of Benthem Crouwel Architekten lies in finding basic, lucid and enduring solutions for complex briefs. "BC AD" brings together 30 years' designing by one of the Netherlands' most successful architectural practices, at the same time giving an update on Dutch design culture.