Pierre Cuypers

Petrus Josephus Hubertus (Pierre) Cuypers (May 16, 1827, Roermond – March 3, 1921, Roermond) was a Dutch architect. His name is most frequently associated with the Amsterdam Central Station (1881-1889) and the RijksmuseumAmsterdam. More representative for his oeuvre, however, are a lot of churches, of which he built more than 100. Moreover, he restored a large number of monuments. (1876-1885), both in

Cuypers was 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 in 1844 to study architecture at the art academy. He was taught by Frans Andries Durlet, Frans Stoop and Ferdinand Berckmans, 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 Rheinland, he returned to Roermond, where he was appointed a town architect in 1851. In 1852, he opened a work shop where ecclesiastical art was manufactured.

Cuypers' ecclesiastical work was initially strongly influenced by 13th century French architectureEugene Viollet-le-Duc and J. A. Alberdingk Thijm. Cuypers built a large number of churches all across the Netherlands, in which the French influence played a prominent role. Highlights from these first period are the Lambert's Church in VeghelEindhoven, among others. From 1870 onwards Cuypers' style became more influenced by the native Gothic styles of the Netherlands as well as Gothic styles from other countries like Norway and Italy. He also experimented with centralizing ground-plans and other non-conventional layouts. In this second part of his career he built some of his best work. After 1883 he was assisted by his son Joseph Cuypers in much of his work.

The year 2007-2008 has been proclaimed "Cuypersjaar"Netherlands Architecture Institute in Rotterdam and Maastricht. (Cuypers year) in the Netherlands. A great number of activities and exhibitions are organized around this theme including an exhibition on Cuypers' architecture.

An overview of works of Pierre Cuypers can be found here.

Antoniuskerk, Brussels (BE)

Vondelkerk, Amsterdam (NL)

Castle de Haar, Haarzuilens (NL)

 Wikipedia