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Dutch architecture enriched with Spanish values TEXT: BAS VAN DUREN | PHOTOS: CRUZ Y ORTIZ
Founded in 1974 by the renowned Antonio Cruz and Antonio Ortiz in Sevilla, Cruz y Ortiz is a famed architecture office in Spain that has expanded over the years to Amsterdam and Madrid. With Muriel Huisman in charge of Amsterdam, the name is now wellknown in the Netherlands and its neighbouring countries, largely due to a profound renovation of the famous Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. “A small team capable of great projects,” is how Muriel Huisman describes the Amsterdam branch of the tree that is Cruz y Ortiz. “Our office is currently staffed by six people and since we’re very all-rounded, we’re able to be involved in the complete 20 | Issue 43 | July 2017
process of a project, starting with the designs and recommendations to the completion and beyond. We call ourselves generalists who don’t think in partial solutions for a multifaceted problem, but rather have one solid answer that’s based on the shared core values of Cruz y Ortiz: elegance, timelessness, intelligence and intuition.” One needs to look at one of the Antonios’ first projects to see those values in action: a residential block in Sevilla, comprised of three units, was built in 1975 and still has a timeless feel to it with its subtle, curvaceous design. Huisman: “All done with just one stroke and the shape of a kidney bean was made. It turned out
to be the solution to the block, both in design, but also for practical reasons; daylight is used optimally this way in a district where roads are meandering rather than straight lines.” Those same values were applied to a project closer to home for the Dutch branch of the architect bureau: the Rijksmuseum, the biggest national museum in the Netherlands, attracting over two million visitors annually and displaying over 8,000 objects of art and history. “Back then our government appointed an architect of the state who was impressed by our design and way of thinking,” Huisman explains. “When it comes down to renovation, we don’t like the easy way out of putting a