Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, the Netherlands, a municipal modern art museum, closed in 2008 to launch a major makeover—including a futuristic building extension built from hybrid para-aramid and carbon fibers. Teijin Twaron, a member of the Teijin Group located in Amsterdam, sponsored the new extension. “Donating a structure made of Teijin’s leading-edge materials to the Stedelijk Museum is a wonderful marriage of Dutch culture and Teijin technology,” says Teijin Ltd. president and CEO Toru Nagashima.

The design involves an eight-layer construction of strong Twaron® para-aramid and carbon fiber from Toho Tenax, a Teijin Group subsidiary in Germany. The total extension surface is approximately 3,000 square meters, a total of 24,000 square meters of composite material. Amsterdam architects Benthem Crouwel chose the technology because of its strength, stability in fluctuating temperatures and ability to form one seamless surface. Teijin Group, a global giant in synthetic fibers, films and plastics, has invested more than one billion Euro in its Dutch facilities in the past six years, making it one of the country’s biggest economic engines. The museum will re-open next year.