Cyclists 1, Architects 0

Before coming over to Europe, we watched a documentary about the renovation of the Rijksmuseum. It is an unbelievable story and involves the power of the cyclists' lobby group in Amsterdam. The controversy was over maintaining a roadway for cyclists through the centre of the museum. After 10 years of debate, rerooting the pathway stayed unacceptable to the cyclists so the design of a spectacular entrance to the museum was eventually scrapped with the subsequent resignation of the Director and others committed to making a renovation suitable for a world-class museum.
It was interesting to hear our host and hostess completely disagree about its success or not - they both bike - she is passionate about the environment and biking, and loves that they kept the bike lane, he thinks it was a big mistake.
I could hardly wait to see the results and after today, can comment on the bike lane, entrance and ticket line. I got no further. Tomorrow will allow us to see the galleries which I expect to be stunning.
So my opinion? It is horrible!! I took a few pictures as I stood for 30 minutes in the first line. The entrance to the museum is a tunnel with bikes travelling through the middle of the building to the other side. Tourists are clueless about the dangers of fast bikes and wander across from one side to another generally ignoring the tiny bells.... It is grim and today, was cold. The building entrance is through a small glass door on each side with security letting people in, small groups at a time. You come through the door on the side of the large, light-filled hall but only rarely did I see anyone look up to the ceiling - most people are searching the vast floor space for the ticket line they have to find...

Entrance. Small arches on left and right are for people. Large arch in centre has bike lanes.

Cyclists passing through building in what could have been a dramatic entrance to the museum.

Unfortunate side entrance where people come in part way up and move down stairs to find the ticket line.