Why the Asian Pavilion is worth a slow visit
The quiet building most visitors miss in the south wing of the Rijksmuseum.
The Asian Pavilion is, in some ways, the most contemporary part of the museum complex — a low building, mostly glass and water, attached to the south wing by a covered walk.
Cruz y Ortiz, the Spanish architects who oversaw the 2003-2013 restoration, gave the pavilion its present shape. The galleries are small and the lighting is restrained. Many visitors walk past the entrance without seeing it. This is a mistake.
Inside, the collection is selective: a dancing Shiva, several lacquer screens, ceramics from the Edo period, a single Korean Buddha that sits at the centre of one of the rooms like a still point. Spend twenty minutes here. Read the labels twice. The pavilion rewards the visitor who is not in a hurry.
I have a personal weakness for the way the building meets the moat outside. From one window you can see waterlilies along the brick wall. From another you can see a long staircase leading down to a service door for the conservation workshops. The pavilion was built to be permeable — to belong to the city, to the water, and to the older building behind it.
❦
← All essays