Nostalgia and pragmatism: architecture and the new stedelijk museum, Amsterdam

In April 2007, the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam finally began the construction of a new extension, designed by the Dutch firm Benthem Crouwel Architects, after seventeen years of internal and public controversy. In the context of a global enthusiasm for museum refurbishment or renewal, this article analyses the new building for the Stedelijk Museum and asks if it will bring about the long-awaited salvation. Via a detailed analysis of a report of 2003 on the future of the museum on the one hand and of the building brief on the other, the article demonstrates that the new extension of the Stedelijk is not so much aimed at defining a new and challenging museum typology, but is plagued by both pragmatism and nostalgia about a glorious period in its history, epitomized by the charismatic museum director Willem Sandberg