Earlier this week you may have read about the theft of seven paintings from the Kunsthal, a museum in Rotterdam. It was a very big deal. Not only were the paintings on loan, but the stolen work — which is estimated to be worth roughly $100 million — included pieces by Monet, Matisse, Gauguin, and Picasso. Apparently Dutch police have no leads in the case, so we can only imagine that there’s quite a bit of finger pointing going on right now. But what we didn’t expect to read over on Dezeen were quotes from a security expert who blames renowned Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas’ 1992 design — which he calls “a total nightmare” from a security perspective — for attracting the criminals in the first place.
“Once inside the building, thieves could easily walk through the entire museum,” Ton Cremers told De Volkskrant, a Dutch newspaper. “There were no extra compartments built for the expensive pieces… Museums should focus more on the security of the buildings. They are currently too focused on electronics such as cameras and motion detectors.” What do you think? Should an architect be held accountable for the security issues created by their design?