JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #74 - July 2012 - 14

building

From fibre to façade
In 2004, five Dutch architectural firms were invited by the City of Amsterdam to submit their proposals for the renovation and extension of the Stedelijk Museum of Modern Art in Amsterdam. The winners were Amsterdambased firm Benthem Crouwel (BCA), whose striking design stood out both visually and for its technical ambition.
however, architects, engineers and experts in both aramid and composites had to push the boundaries of their fields. That’s because the bathtub could only be made out of a pioneering new composite material, with Teijin Aramid’s Twaron para-aramid fibre as the key ingredient. This is the story of how a multi-disciplinary team went from that fibre to the new façade. complete contrast with it. (see Figure 1 for an early sketch of the architect). Whereas the old building has straight lines and corners, the architects decided that the new one should have smooth, curved lines. And as the old is highly ornamented, the new should be simple. In addition, the rough brickwork of the old building would contrast with the extension’s perfectly smooth surfaces. The two buildings would, however, be linked together by the use of the colour white, which had long been used inside the exhibition rooms of the old building. surface of the bathtub – the façade – should be seamless. However, the only way to construct such a large surface is to use a number of smaller panels. And panels made from conventional construction materials need a little space – in the form of dilation seams – to expand and contract as the temperature rises or falls. But, of course, those dilation seams (which, depending on the material, might be anything up to 20mm wide) would totally spoil the flawless look the architects were aiming for. To solve this, they needed to find a material with absolutely minimal thermal expansion.

Dr. Ir. Danny Wilms Floet Sales & Technical Manager Composites at Teijin Aramid

msterdam’s famous Stedelijk Museum of Modern Art originally opened its doors in 1895 to exhibit the new “modern” art that was creating a furor throughout Europe. A century later, the City Council decided that the old building itself was in need of modernization. Now, not only has the 19th-century building been restored to its former glory, but alongside it, a new entrance and exhibition space has been created in the shape of a bright white “bathtub”, 100 metre long and floating serenely above a paved square. Before this could happen,

An architect’s vision
The original building was designed in the highly decorative Neo-Renaissance style that was so popular at the time. The City of Amsterdam wanted to restore this old building to its former glory, while building a new extension and entrance right alongside it. Of course, the architects wanted to deal respectfully with the old building. But that didn’t mean trying to blend in with it, or attempting to imitate it – for Benthem Crouwel, the only way to treat the old building with respect was to make a
Fig. 1: Early sketch of the cross-section of the newly designed Stedelijk Museum (Benthem Crouwel Architects, 2004)

Combining these elements, the architects designed a large white “bathtub” structure, which appears to float freely in the air alongside the old building, above a spacious new entrance hall. It houses various exhibition spaces, lecture rooms and other spaces, and additional exhibition areas have been created underground. An important part of the architects’ vision was that the

An engineer’s view: turning vision into reality
Not easily discouraged, the architects began looking around for advice from the experts. They were eventually referred to the Dutch engineering firm, Solico, which has extensive experience of designing lightweight and strong products for the construction and defence industries. What’s more, the firm also has expert knowledge and insight into the

14 jec composites magazine / No74 July 2012

JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #74 - July 2012

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #74 - July 2012