+ 31

• Architects

  Cruz y Ortiz Arquitectos

• Location

  Av. de Luis Aragonés, 28022 Madrid, Spain

• Category

  Stadiums

• Area

  194.64 m2

• Project Year

  2017

• Photographs

  Pedro Pegenaute

The recently-completed Wanda Metropolitano in Madrid by Cruz y Ortiz Architects has been named as the best stadium in the world during the World Football Summit 2018. The stadium was opened in September 2017 and is set to host the 2019 UEFA Champions League final in May of this year.

In awarding the accolade, the jury praised the scheme’s aesthetics, operational program, flexibility to hold a wide range of events, use of technology, and “above all, a unique experience for the spectator in terms of comfort, services, and safety.”

Hours before the start of the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia's opening ceremony, the soccer organization will reveal if the Canada–Mexico–United States or Morocco will be selected to hold 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Ahead of the announcement, Morocco revealed the design of the stadium that would hold the final match if the North African country wins the bid--a new venue with capacity for 80,000 spectators. This stadium has been designed by Spanish architects Cruz y Ortiz Arquitectos, the firm that recently inaugurated the Wanda Metropolitano in Madrid. They are also currently working on the design of the Dalian Yifan Football Club stadium in China and another sports venue in Switzerland.

+ 31

Offices and cultural buildings both offer the perfect opportunity to design the atrium of your dreams. These central spaces, designed to allow serendipitous meetings of users or to help with orientation in the building, are spacious and offer a lot of design freedom. Imposing scales, sculptural stairs, eccentric materials, and indoor vegetation are just some of the resources used to give life to these spaces. To help you with your design ideas, below we have gathered a selection of 15 notable atriums and their section drawings.

+ 28

• Architects

  Cruz y Ortiz Arquitectos

• Location

  Calle Pablo Picasso, 41018 Sevilla, Spain

• Category

  Offices

• Design Team

  José Ortiz, Blanca Sánchez, Héctor Salcedo, Daniel Rodríguez, Rodrigo Ruiz, , Alejandro Álvarez, Rodrigo Ruiz, Guillermo Torres, Rocío de Vicente, Miguel Velasco

• Area

  41393.0 m2

• Project Year

  2015

• Photographs

  Pedro Pegenaute

+ 24

• Architects

  Cruz y Ortiz Arquitectos

• Location

  Granada, España

• Category

  University

• Area

  18223.0 sqm

• Project Year

  2014

• Photography

  Duccio Malagamba

Madrid's Museo del Prado has announced the finalists for the competition to redesign and transform the museum’s Hall of Realms. Among the list are acclaimed firms OMA; Souto Moura Arquitectos; a team of Foster + Partners - Rubio Arquitectos; B720 Arquitectos - David Chipperfield Architects; Cruz y Ortiz Arquitectos; Nieto Sobejano Architects; Stedebouw B.V.; Juan Miguel Hernández León - Carlos de Riaño Lozano; Garces de Seta Bonet Arquitectes - Pedro Feducci Canosa; and Gluckman Tang Architects - Estudio Alvarez Sala - Enguita and Lasso de la Vega.

Amsterdam's Rijksmuseum, which was comprehensively restored and reimagined by Spanish practice Cruz y Ortiz over the course of a decade, has been named as the 2015 European Museum of the Year (EMYA) by the European Museum Forum. Lauded by the jury as "a great museum, at the height of its powers, providing a rich experience to the public, and a socially aware outreach programme for visitors of all ages," its success has also been in the museum's "ambition to 'reach every child in the Netherlands by the age of twelve'" - an aspiration which has been praised as "notable, impressive and achievable." The coveted award has previously gone to Zaha Hadid Architects' Riverside Museum in Glasgow in 2013.

In honor of International Museum Day we’ve collected twenty compelling museum projects. In this round up you’ll find a truly global selection; from Wang Shu's Ningbo Historic Museum in China and Tod Williams + Billie Tsien's Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia to Monoblock's Contemporary Art Museum in Buenos Aires, see all of our editors’ favorites after the break!

Cruz y Ortis, who famously spent ten years redesigning and renovating Amsterdam's Rijksmuseum, have recently completed a comprehensive restoration of the adjacent Philips Wing. As an addition to the extensive exhibition spaces of the Dutch national museum, which was brought to completion in 2013, the Philips Wing will be dedicated to showcasing high-profile exhibitions from its own collection and on loan from international and national collections. Cruz y Ortiz's work has consisted of reorienting the entrance, accommodating diverse new functions and preparing the exhibition rooms for the temporary expositions starting next month. Several twentieth century interventions have been set back and corrected, whilst other areas have been appropriated for a new destination.

See drawings and photographs of the new wing, including a description from the architects, after the break.

+ 17

The Rijksmuseum, which reopened last year after a decade of restoration and remodelling, is a museum dedicated to “the Dutchness of Dutchness.” Pierre Cuypers, the building's original architect, began designing this neogothic cathedral to Dutch art in 1876; it opened in 1885 and has stood guard over Amsterdam's Museumplein ever since.

Over the centuries, the building suffered a series of poorly executed 'improvements': intricately frescoed walls and ceilings were whitewashed; precious mosaics broken; decorative surfaces plastered over; and false, parasitic ceilings hung from the walls. Speaking in his office overlooking the Rijksmuseum’s monumental south west façade, Director of Collections Taco Dibbits noted how the most appalling damage was incurred during the mid-20th century: “everything had been done to hide the original building […but] Cruz y Ortiz [who won the competition to redesign the Rijks in 2003] embraced the existing architecture by going back to the original volumes of the spaces as much as possible.”

For Seville-based Cruz y Ortiz, choosing what to retain and what to restore, what to remodel and what to ignore were, at times, difficult to balance. Cruz y Ortiz found their answer in the mantra: 'Continue with Cuypers'. They threw the original elements of the building into relief but did not act as aesthetes for the 'ruin'. In contrast to David Chipperfield and Julian Harrap's restoration of Berlin's Neues Museum, for instance, Cruz y Ortiz rigorously implemented a clean visual approach that favoured clarity over confusion. What is original, what is restored, and what is new mingle together in a melting pot of solid, understated architectural elements. Sometimes this approach contradicted Cuyper's original intentions; however, more often than not it complements them in a contemporary way.

+ 39

• Architects

  Cruz y Ortiz Arquitectos

• Location

  Museumstraat 1, 1071 Amsterdam, The Netherlands

• Category

  Museum

• Principals

  Antonio Cruz, Antonio Ortiz

• Project Architects

  Muriel Huisman, Thomas Offermans

• Project Team

  Tirma Reventós, Oscar García de la Cámara, Marije Ter Steege, Alicia López, Juan Luis Mayén, Clara Hernández, Ana Vila, Victoria Bernícola, Jan Kolle, Sara Gutiérrez, Marta Pelegrín, Iko Mennenga, Joaquin Pérez, Lourdes Gutierrez, Carlos Arévalo

• Area

  30000.0 m2

• Project Year

  2000

• Photographs

  Pedro Pegenaute , Myra May, Rijksmuseum, Jannes Linders, Duccio Malagamba

+ 27

+ 19

• Architects

  Cruz y Ortiz Arquitectos

• Location

  Sevilla, Spain

• Category

  University

• Client

  Universidad de Sevilla

• Budget

  22.000.000 €

• Area

  25420.0 m2

• Project Year

  2010

+ 31

• Architects

  Cruz y Ortiz Arquitectos 

• Location

  Sabadell, Spain

• Category

  Renovation

• Project Year

  2007

+ 14

• Architects

  Cruz y Ortiz Arquitectos

• Location

  Amsterdam, The Netherlands

• Category

  Museum

• Project Architect

  Thomas Offermans

• Design Team

  Marta Pelegrin, Joaquín Pérez, Tirma Reventos, Iko Mennenga, Juan Carlos Mulero, Miguel Velasco, Luis Gutiérrez, Mónica del Arenal, Rocío Peinado

• Local Architects

  HMADP- architecten BV Amsterdam

• Client

  Rijksmuseum Amsterdam; Department of Culture; Ministry of Public Works

• Budget

  20.000.000€

• Area

  9100.0 m2

• Project Year

  2007

• Photographs

  Duccio Malagamba , Luuk Kramer

+ 22

• Architects

  Cruz y Ortiz Arquitectos

• Location

  Calle Joaquín Eguarás s/n, Granada, Spain

• Category

  Office buildings

• Client

  Dirección General de Patrimonio. Consejería de Economía y Hacienda. Junta de Andalucía.

• Budget

  34.930.267 €

• Area

  46.893 m2

• Project Year

  2010

• Photographs

  Duccio Malagamba