page_title: Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam
section_title: Benthem Crouwel Wing
hierarchical_section_title: Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam / Relocation and addition / Benthem Crouwel Wing
caption_attribution_description: English: The new wing of the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, two days after the reopening in 2012. Nederlands: De nieuwe vleugel van het Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, twee dagen na de heropening in 2012.
context_page_description: The Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, colloquially known as the Stedelijk, is a museum for modern art, contemporary art, and design located in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
  The 19th century building was designed by Adriaan Willem Weissman and the 21st century wing with the current entrance was designed by Benthem Crouwel Architects. It is located at the Museum Square in the borough Amsterdam South, where it is close to the Van Gogh Museum, the Rijksmuseum, and the Concertgebouw.
  The collection comprises modern and contemporary art and design from the early 20th century up to the 21st century. It features artists such as Vincent van Gogh, Wassily Kandinsky, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Marc Chagall, Henri Matisse, Jackson Pollock, Karel Appel, Andy Warhol, Willem de Kooning, Marlene Dumas, Lucio Fontana, and Gilbert & George.
  In 2015, the museum had an estimated 675,000 visitors.
context_section_description: After further discussions about whether to relocate the contemporary art museum to an Amsterdam park, a new jury eventually awarded Benthem Crouwel Architects the renovation and construction contract for their design for the new building, referred to as "The Bathtub". The new Stedelijk has an exhibition surface area of 8,000 square meters, which is double its previous gallery space. Michael Kimmelman, architecture critic for The New York Times, wrote of the museum's addition, "I can't recall seeing a more ridiculous looking building than the new Stedelijk Museum." The Los Angeles Times called the extension "oversized, antiseptic and mismatched".
  When Alvaro Siza had originally designed the plans, the reopening was scheduled for 2007. In 2004, when a new competition was held, it became clear that this date was not achievable. Although the renovated original building was completed in early 2010, conditions were not suitable for exhibiting artworks because there was no climate control system, which was to be installed in the new wing. The press poured criticism on the delays. A campaign by Dutch cultural entrepreneur Otto Nan, "Stedelijk Do Something", urged people to text their disappointment about the delays. This drew considerable media attention and a huge response from social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook. Nan hoped that what he referred to as an "amicable coup" would attract political attention with an occupation of Museum Square. By sending SMS messages, people could raise money to help the museum re-launch a little sooner. With even more delays in 2011 when contractor Midreth went bankrupt, the plan to re-open in the spring of 2010 was moved to 2012. The restored original building went ahead and opened with a temporary exposition in 2010, which attracted about 223,000 visitors.
  Contractor VolkerWessels finished the construction in February 2012, after which the climate control system was set up. After eight years of work, the new Stedelijk opened on 23 September 2012. With the renovation and expansion, the highlights of the collection are on display in the old building in a series of changing presentations. The new wing consists of a large glassed entrance, which opens onto the Museum Square, and galleries for temporary exhibitions on the upper level and in the basement. It also houses the museum shop, restaurant and library, as well as an auditorium. The inaugural exhibition, entitled "Beyond Imagination", was a show of work by emerging Amsterdam artists. A retrospective of the late Los Angeles artist Mike Kelley followed in December 2012.
  The completion of the project cost a total of €127M, €20M more than estimated in 2007, which was mostly funded by Amsterdam's city council.
caption: The new wing of the museum in 2012
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