Van Gogh Village Museum in awards!

24 mei 2024

Van Gogh Village Museum has won the audience award in the election of Best Building in the Netherlands!

This was announced Thursday evening at the Bunkertoren in Eindhoven during a festive meeting of the Branchevereniging van Nederlandse Architectenbureaus (BNA). Arno Aarts and Jeroen Veldkamp were present on behalf of Van Gogh Village Nuenen. They received the corresponding prize.

The public voted for our museum in large numbers! We are very happy about that, and also proud of it. It is therefore a beautiful building with wonderful sightlines. And it is especially nice to stay in, for both guests and our volunteers.

Our new building is and always will be special. The large window is actually a painting of Van Gogh. That's how cleverly that window was placed. You see, the new addition is right across the street from the rectory where Vincent lived and painted. Through that window the presbytery can be seen, beautifully framed, in any light. The base of our new museum is the barn that stood on this spot. And so the new building fits seamlessly into the ribbon of existing, historic buildings.
This coherence with the surroundings was decisive for the nomination for Best Building of the Year, which is awarded annually by the Branchevereniging van Nederlandse Architectenbureaus (BNA).

Fantastic news

Jeroen Veldkamp, board member of Foundation Van Gogh Village Nuenen together with Rob Meurders of Diederendirrix proudly accepted the award during the festive ceremony 'BNA Best Building of the Year 2024' in De Bunkertoren in Eindhoven. "This is also fantastic news for our 200 volunteers and all those involved in Nuenen and the surrounding area who are committed to the preservation and value of our Van Gogh heritage. It underlines our ambitions as a foundation. Much respect and all praise to architect Rob Meurders and the team of Diederendirrix led by our director Simone van der Heiden," said Jeroen Veldkamp.

Our new museum was opened a year ago by H.M. Queen Máxima and is considered one of the gems for cultural tourism visits in Brabant. The expansion of the museum is part of Van Gogh Sites Foundation's approach to preserving Van Gogh Monuments and passing them on to new generations. Bureau Diederendirrix is distinguished by designs that are logical, meaningful and carefully become part of the environment. Their architecture and urban planning solutions stand for change and own(wise) interpretation and leave room for interpretation by the resident, user, visitor or passer-by.