Petrus Josephus Hubertus "Pierre" Cuypers (16 May 1827 – 3 March 1921) was a Dutch architect. His name is most frequently associated with the
Amsterdam Central Station
Amsterdam Centraal Station ( nl, italic=no, Station Amsterdam Centraal ; abbreviation: Asd) is the largest railway station in Amsterdam, North Holland, the Netherlands. A major international railway hub, it is used by 192,000 passengers a day, ...
(1881–1889) and the
Rijksmuseum
The Rijksmuseum () is the national museum of the Netherlands dedicated to Dutch arts and history and is located in Amsterdam. The museum is located at the Museum Square in the borough of Amsterdam South, close to the Van Gogh Museum, the St ...
(1876–1885), both in Amsterdam. More representative for his oeuvre, however, are numerous churches, of which he designed more than 100. Moreover, he restored many monuments.
Biography
Cuypers was born in Roermond, the son of a church painter, and grew up in surroundings in which interest for art was encouraged. After he studied at the urban college in Roermond, he moved to
Antwerp
Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,
in 1844 to study architecture at the Royal art academy. He was taught by
Frans-Andries Durlet
Frans-Andries aka François André or Franciscus Andreas Durlet, (11 July 1816 – 2 March 1867) was a Belgian architect, sculptor and printmaker.
Durlet was born and died in Antwerp. He taught at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp and was ...
,
Frans Stoop
Frans is an Afrikaans, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Icelandic, Norwegian, and Swedish given name, sometimes as a short form of ''François''. One cognate of Frans in English is ''Francis''.
Given name
* Frans van Aarssens (1572–1641), Dutch diplomat ...
and
Ferdinand Berckmans
Ferdinand is a Germanic name composed of the elements "protection", "peace" (PIE "to love, to make peace") or alternatively "journey, travel", Proto-Germanic , abstract noun from root "to fare, travel" (PIE , "to lead, pass over"), and "co ...
, all pioneers of the neo-Gothic architecture in Belgium. Cuypers was a good student; in 1849, he gained the ''Prix d'Excellence'' of the academy.
After a tour in the German Rhineland, he returned to Roermond, where he was appointed a town architect in 1851. In 1852, he opened a workshop where ecclesiastical art was manufactured.
Cuypers' ecclesiastical work was initially strongly influenced by 13th century French architecture and by the writings of his friends Eugène Viollet-le-Duc and
J. A. Alberdingk Thijm
Joseph Albert Alberdingk Thijm (8 July 1820 – 17 March 1889) was a Dutch writer. In his triple capacity of art critic, philologist, and poet, Alberdingk Thijm was an important figure of Catholic literature. After finishing his studies in his nat ...
. Cuypers built many churches throughout the Netherlands, in which the French influence played a prominent role. Highlights from these first period are the Lambert's Church in Veghel and the in
Eindhoven
Eindhoven () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, located in the southern province of North Brabant of which it is its largest. With a population of 238,326 on 1 January 2022,Joseph Cuypers in much of his work.
Cuypers led many restorations. His conceptions concerning restorations has been frequently criticized; restoration often implied that the building was awfully damaged, but Cuypers tried to satisfy an idealized image of the style or the idea how the original builders had intended a building to be rather than to preserve the architectural evolution of the building. An early example of this is the extensive restoration of the Munster Church in Roermond, where Cuypers replaced original towers with new ones. From 1875 he led the restoration of the eastern front of the Mainz Cathedral, which he executed according to his own plans in Romanesque style. In doing so, he created as an opposite pole to the western tower group the high, gothic likely eastern tower helmet, replacing a bell floor and the Moller iron cupola.
Pierre Cuypers was the uncle of Eduard Cuypers who trained in his practice as a young man. Other relatives who became architects are his grandsons
Pierre Cuypers jr.
Pierre is a masculine given name. It is a French language, French form of the name Peter (given name), Peter. Pierre originally meant "rock" or "stone" in French (derived from the Greek word πέτρος (''petros'') meaning "stone, rock", via ...
and Theo Taen.
Cuypers was a practising Roman Catholic and a member of the Lay Dominicans. As such, he was buried in the Dominican habit. He died in his home town of Roermond, aged 93.
Bibliography
*A. J. C. van Leeuwen, ''Pierre Cuypers architect (1827–1921)'', Zwolle-Amersfoort-Zeist, 2007.
*H. Berens (ed.), ''P.J.H. Cuypers (1827–1921). Het complete werk'', Rotterdam, Nederlands Architectuurinstituut, 2007.
*A. J. C. van Leeuwen, ''De maakbaarheid van het verleden. P. J. H. Cuypers als restauratiearchitect'', Zeist-Zwolle, 1995.
Amsterdam Central Station
Amsterdam Centraal Station ( nl, italic=no, Station Amsterdam Centraal ; abbreviation: Asd) is the largest railway station in Amsterdam, North Holland, the Netherlands. A major international railway hub, it is used by 192,000 passengers a day, ...
Special festivities in connection with the "Cuypers year"
The year 2007-2008 has been proclaimed "Cuypersjaar" (Cuypers year) in the Netherlands. A great number of activities and exhibitions are organized around this theme including an exhibition on Cuypers' architecture at the
Netherlands Architecture Institute
The Netherlands Architecture Institute (NAI) was a cultural institute for architecture and urban development, which comprised a museum, an archive plus library and a platform for lectures and debates. The NAI was established in 1988 and was ba ...
in Rotterdam and Maastricht.
File:Pierre Cuypers statue.jpg, Pierre Cuypers statue (by
August Falise
Augustinus Franciscus Henri Falise (26 January 1875 in Wageningen – 7 January 1936) was a Dutch sculptor and medailleur (minter of medals). Next to smaller sculptures he designed large monuments of public figures in stone or messing which are s ...
),
Munsterplein
The Munstersquare (or ''Munsterplein'' in Dutch language, Dutch) is the main Town square, square in the city of Roermond. Its most prominent features are the bandstand and the Munster church (or "De Onze Lieve Vrouwe Munsterkerk" in Dutch lang ...
, Roermond (Netherlands)
File:West-zijde toren - Veghel - 20239979 - RCE.jpg, , (Netherlands)
File:Brusselantoniuskerk.jpg, , (Belgium)
File:Vondelk1.jpg, , Amsterdam (Netherlands)
File:Kasteel de Haar met slotgracht, juli 2003.JPG, Castle de Haar, Haarzuilens (Netherlands)
File:Roermondmunster.jpg, Munsterkerk, Roermond (Netherlands)
File:Sint-Jozefkathedraal2.jpg,
St. Joseph Cathedral, Groningen
The St. Joseph Cathedral ( nl, Sint-Jozef kathedraal)
is the cathedral of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Groningen-Leeuwarden in the city of Groningen in the Netherlands.
Description
The parish church of St. Joseph (''Sint-Jozef''), was designed ...
(Netherlands)
File:Mainzer Dom Ostfassade.jpg, Eastern front of the Mainz Cathedral. The central tower dates back to Cuypers work in 1875.
File:De Arnhemsche reukwater-fontein op de wereldtentoonstelling in Philadelphia.jpg, Perfume fountain for the Dutch contribution to the Centennial Exposition in 1876