Dome

View from Van Baerlestraat of the new "bathtub" extension and the original 19th century brick museum; At the end of 2003, the Adriaan Willem Weissman building (1891-1895), was closed at the insistence of the fire department; renovation work began. 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 (2004) 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." There are three main elements to the new building: a large glassed entrance, which opens onto the Museum Square, upper-level temporary exhibition galleries, and a basement with a display area for the permanent collection. Source: Wikipedia; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page (accessed 6/12/2014)