Fact Sheet 75 Years of Post-War Reconstruction in Rotterdam
Fact sheet 75 years of post-war reconstruction in Rotterdam RECONSTRUCTION IN ROTTERDAM RECONSTRUCTION ARCHITECTURE ‘Wederopbouw’, or Reconstruction, is the term used to descri- Rotterdam architects Van den Broek & Bakema, Maaskant & be the process of repairing the damage to our country after Van Tijen, Kraaijvanger, Elffers and other agencies were tas- World War II. Rotterdam was one of the hardest hit cities in the ked with the architectural design of the Basic Plan. Netherlands. The bombing of 14 May 1940 destroyed 24,000 homes, 2,400 shops and The contrast between traditionalist and modern architects another 4,000 buildings, gradually faded and new buildings in Rotterdam were de- almost wiping out the entire signed in typical Reconstruction style, in which commercial, city centre. functional designs were combined with decorative elements. Important Reconstruction landmarks are the bank buildings Parts of Kralingen and along the Blaak, department stores Ter Meulen, C&A, Vroom Noordereiland were also & Dreesmann and De affected. More havoc was Bijenkorf, the Groothan- wreaked in the dockland delsgebouw, Lijnbaan, areas later in the war years, Thalia cinema theatre, and due to an oversight du- the Station Post Office ring an Allied bombing raid and Rotterdam Central on the western part of the Station. This Recon- city in 1943, a further 2,600 struction style is still Aerial of Rotterdam 1946 | photo Aviodrome homes were destroyed. evident in the typical architecture of espe- RECONSTRUCTION PLAN cially the Pannekoek- No stone was left unturned in rebuilding the city. On May straat, Hoogstraat and 18, 1940, city architect Witteveen was commissioned to draw Mariniersweg.
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