Edith Gruson , Gerard Hadders , ProArtsDesign
William of Orange, Restauration of his Monumental Grave
Exhibition, Nieuwe Kerk, Delft
For: Frits Scholten, Rijksmuseum, Rijksgebouwendienst (The Government Buildings Agency)
















een opstelling gaf het publiek de gelegenheid om het vijf jaar durende restauratieproces te volgen, maar diende tevens ter afscherming van de restaurateurs.
de kenmerkende vormen van het grafmonument werden vertaald in een twee dimensionaal ‘glas in lood’ hekwerk.
frontaal werden hekken geplaatst die het echte grafmonument omsloten.
bij iedere fase van afbouw en opbouw werden de witte glasdelen in het hekwerk vervangen door gekleurd glas. zo kreeg het glas in lood ook een functie waardoor het verloop van de werkzaamheden zichtbaar werd.

The monumental grave of William of Orange, The Netherlands foremost historic figure, needed thorough restauration. The process would take 5 years. In order to allow for the restorers to do their work, and to facilitate the visitors to follow the restauration process a structure was designed that followed the ’gestalt’ of the monument and translated it into a ’monumental stained glass window fence’. During the progress of the restauration the color of the glassed changed from opaque white to a transparant red blue or green, emphasizing the different stages.

Nieuwe Kerk (English: New Church) is a landmark Protestant church in Delft, Netherlands. The building is located on Delft Market Square (Markt), opposite to the City Hall (Dutch: Stadhuis). In 1584, William the Silent was entombed here in a mausoleum designed by Hendrick and Pieter de Keyser. Since then members of the House of Orange-Nassau have been entombed in the royal crypt. The latest are Queen Juliana and her husband Prince Bernhard in 2004. The private royal family crypt is not open to the public. The church tower is the second highest in the Netherlands, after the Domtoren in Utrecht.

The Government Buildings Agency is part of the Ministry of Interior and Kingdom Relations. Our task is to manage and develop the State’s largest property portfolio. All in all this involves 7 million m² of floor space, 70% of which is owned by the Agency. Of the 2,000 properties that make up our stock, some 350 – representing 1 million m² - have monument status.