EYE Filmmuseum

Delugan Meissl Associated Architects

Amsterdam, IJpromenade 1

2005 – 2012

Eye

I have been to Amsterdam a few times and this museum has struck me time and again. It is an eye-catcher on the other side of the river IJ. It is the first major cultural institution from Amsterdam to take the step across the water. It is a museum where everything can be seen about film.

Filmmuseum

The EYE was created in 2010 through a merger of the Filmmuseum, Holland Film, Filmbank and the Dutch Institute for Film Education. But many other tasks were spread over different locations in the Netherlands. When Amsterdam wanted to triple the rent of the pavilion where the museum was housed, the director came up with the ambitious plan in 1999 to open a new museum together with other institutions. In the end it took more than 10 years for the new building to arrive.

New museum

The objective is to preserve the film heritage for future generations, both Dutch films and foreign films that have been screened in the Netherlands. It contains the largest film library in the Netherlands with, among other things, 46,000 films and 41,500 posters. Scenarios, filmmakers’ archives, photographs and all sorts of film-related objects are also part of the museum’s collection. On April 4, 2012, the new building, including four movie theaters and a large exhibition hall, was opened by Queen Beatrix. The architects were not present during that opening. Despite the good cooperation during the construction process, there was dissatisfaction with the extra wall between the foyer and the exhibition hall. This had to come because of fire safety. The architects would rather have seen everything open.

Project developer wanted

There were 21 locations in the running as a new setting for the film museum. When time began to run out, the director turned it around. Project developers had to pitch for their location for the new film museum. In this way the delay was made up, because people no longer had to look for a developer for the museum. ING Real Estate won the pitch with its location on Amsterdam Noord, where it is developing an area for living and working. After a competition, the Austrian architecture firm of Roman Delugan and Elke Delugan-Meissl was chosen. The architects, the film museum and ING met every two weeks to discuss the project. The architects included the theme of film in their design. That is why the building evokes a different image from every other point of view. The facade consists of aluminum panels.