THE BUILDING
The Van Abbemuseum, established in 1936, is now one of the most spectacularly designed museums in the Netherlands. In 2003 the existing listed monument designed by architect A.J. Kropholler was thoroughly renovated and integrated within architect Abel Cahen’s design for an architecturally progressive, large-scale complex. This provided the museum with the necessary expansion in terms of floor space and facilities. The Van Abbemuseum is one of a growing number of museums for the visual arts, in the Netherlands and abroad, where collection and presentation as well as architectural design are a token of their distinctive, contemporary character. Cahen’s design makes a prominent contribution to international museum architecture.
The Van Abbemuseum lies on the River Dommel and enjoys a surprisingly natural setting. H.N.S landscape architects envisioned a substantial widening of the river, adding fish ladders and a nature-friendly river bank. This has established an ‘inner lake’ in the embrace of the new building that is overlooked by the museum café and its open-air terrace. The museum café is not only accessible via the main entrance, but can also be reached via the footbridge constructed to the rear of the museum in 2006. This work of art, a small, vivid-pink house with the illuminated words ‘Echt iets voor u’ – ‘Just your kind of thing’ – on the roof is a design by the Eindhoven-based artist and architect John Körmeling. The museum has several of his works in its collection. The shortest covered bridge in the world is an eye-catcher by day or by night. The façade of the new building is clad with natural stone, namely grey Flammet slate from Lapland. This grey shell, which changes in hue from silver-grey to dark anthracite depending on the weather conditions, accentuates the angular, sleek design of the new building, forming an expressive contrast with the light and surprisingly transparent spaces within.
The heart of the Van Abbemuseum is a 27-metre-high tower with inward-sloping walls, onto which every floor opens out. Sweeping flights of stairs and a musical lift form striking vertical traverses. Each floor has its own internal structure, sometimes high and monumental, sometimes modest or surprising in form. Though the museum initially strikes one as labyrinthine, it thereby provides space for intimate presentations as well as large-scale exhibitions and monumental installations. The tower, just like the basement, is treated both as an exhibition space and as a workspace where artists can create work in situ.
The Belgian designer Maarten van Severen created the interiors for a range of public facilities, turning the Van Abbemuseum into a user-friendly hub of expertise furnished with state-of-the-art digital equipment. Employing his restrained style and refined palette of colours to great effect, he realized the educational spaces, the museum shop and the auditorium, which is also available for use by third parties for functions. His highly original design for the library, which extends over three floors around an open well, can rightfully be called a masterpiece of applied art.
You can find further information about the technical facilities, opening hours and possibilities for hiring these spaces on the Facilities page.
