Rotterdam,

CENTRAAL STATION (****– 2013) Architect: Team CS met Maarten Struijs 1 Address: Stationsplein 1 ZEECONTAINER RESTAURANT (2005) 15 Architect: Bijvoet architectuur & Stadsontwerp large and small Address: Loods Celebes 101

HOGE HEREN (2005) RED APPLE (2009) Architect: Architects Address: Gedempte Zalmhaven 179 Despite the current recession in the Dutch building industry, Architect: KCAP Architects & Planners 10 construction – of both the large-scale high-rise projects typical 6 Address: Wijnbrugstraat 200 of this city and more modest ‘infill’ – continues apace in . ACHTERHAVEN (2011) THE — TEXT: Emiel Lamers, photography: Sonia Mangiapane, Illustration: Loulou&Tummie Architect: Studio Sputnik 16 Address: Achterhaven otterdam is one of the few old cities line. Since the construction of the Erasmus No one arriving in Rotterdam by train can is regarded as a monument of the post-war

in Europe characterized by massive Bridge in 1996, the centre has expanded miss the massive reconstruction of Centraal reconstruction of the city. If all goes according a n der Hoek KUNSTHAL (1992) high-rise in the centre of the city. In across the river to the poorer, southern part of Station (1). The original station hall de- to plan, it will be integrated with the new mu- a rd v R All Architect: Rem Koolhaas, Fumi Hoshino OMA SCHIEBLOCK (2011) one night of heavy bombing on 14 May 1940, the city where two new districts, signed by Sybold van Ravesteyn in 1957, has nicipal offices (4), scheduled to open here in Address: Westzeedijk 341 CULTUURCENTRUM WORM (2011) 11 at the beginning of World War II, Rotterdam and Wilhelminapier, now boast some impres- made way for a much more spacious, raked March 2015. The soaring block-shaped design Architect: ZUS (Zones Urbaines Sensibles) lost its entire historical city centre. After the sive high-rise buildings. Hundreds of square concourse. The elegant concrete platform is by Rem Koolhaas (OMA), who won a con- 2 Address: Schiekade 189 Architect: Architectenbureau Kühne & Co 7 Address: Boomgaardsstraat 71 war, it was decided not to restore the dam- metres of office space continue to be built roofs have also been demolished and replaced troversial design competition from four other aged buildings, save for three structures – the here, even while elsewhere in the city many by a single glass canopy of almost 30,000 m² Dutch architectural firms in 2009. The ground late medieval Sint Laurens church, the 17th- office buildings stand empty. The Schieblock with integrated PV cells. The whole structure floor will contain a public arcade and coun- century Schielandhuis and the monumental near Centraal Station provides one example was designed by Team CS, an ad hoc consor- cil services, while the two towers will house town hall built in 1920. The rest of the rav- of how that problem is being tackled. tium made up of Benthem Crouwel, Meyer en some 90 different apartments, the more ex- aged centre was demolished and cleared In some areas the city is an aggregate of Van Schooten and West 8, working with city pensive with generous square terraces. Until away. What the city authorities had in mind big, discrete buildings. This still patchy co- architect Maarten Struijs. The public trans- construction actually starts, the future build- for Rotterdam was a new and modern city. herence at the level of urban design is a focal port interchange]is scheduled for completion ing site has been laid out as a neighbourhood The canals were filled in with rubble from the point of Rotterdam’s architectural policy. The in late 2013. playground and meeting place to a design by

bombed-out buidings in order to make room city is investing more in the design of public Not far from the central post office build- 2012Architecten, who also designed a tem- OT-THEATER (2004) LIJNBAAN (1953 / 2012) for a generously laid out street plan. Since space and prioritizing small-scale interven- ing renovated by Claus en Kaan, stands the porary ‘vertical garden’ on the rear elevation Architect: Franz_Ziegler LE MEDI (2008) the reconstruction plans, drawn up by urban tions. And, despite the crisis, housing projects Schieblock (2), an empty 1950s office build- of the Stadstimmerhuis. Architect: Van den Broek Bakema / Quadrat 12 Address: Sint-Jobsweg 3 designer Cornelis van Traa, could not be im- are still being built in the city centre in an ef- ing that is in the throes of a temporary trans- Between the St Laurents church and the 3 Address: Lijnbaan Architect: Geurst & Schulze Architecten 17 Address: Oaseplein plemented all at once, the centre was for fort to bring more people and vitality into the formation initiated by Architectenbureau Delftsevaart waterway lies Grotekerkplein. In decades a open expanse dotted with build- city, which tends to shut down at the end of ZUS and supported by both the owner and an attempt to liven up this somewhat bleak ings. Until 1981, for example, there was a the work day. the city council. It now houses a dynamic ‘city square, the city council commissioned Atel- large deer park opposite the city’s main train We begin our architectural tour at Cen- laboratory’ made up of mainly young busi- ier Kempe Thill to design a theatre pavilion. station. Rotterdam is still a spacious city by tral Station where, if you want to do it in true nesses in the creative sector. Architecture lec- The Urban Podium (5), built in 2009, stands Dutch standards, with a very un-Dutch sky- Dutch style, you can hire a bicycle. tures and debates are held in the ground-floor beside the water’s edge and directly opposite ‘Dépendance’. During the next Architecture the church tower. The slightly curved, precast Biennale (April–August 2012), provided suf- concrete roof spans a thirty-metre space be- KANTOOR & BEDRIJFSWONING (2009) Architect: Architectenbureau Kühne & Co ficient sponsors can be found, a temporary tween two service blocks. During perform- Address: Boomgaardsstraat 34 STADSKANTOOR (****– 2014) 8 pedestrian bridge will be built through the ances, a curtain can be hung from the rails Architect: Rem Koolhaas OMA JOBSVEEM (2007) Schieblock, linking the train station with the by way of backdrop. The pavilion is well lit at Address: Rodezand 4 Architect: Mei Architecten Hofbogen on the other side of Hofplein. A Mini night, contributing to the social safety of the 13 i.s.m. Wessel de Jonge Mall installed at one end of this disused rail usually deserted square. Address: Lloydstraat 138 viaduct in September 2010 was the first step Between the Boompjes and the Blaak, in the redevelopment of the entire Hofplein on the tip of a former finger wharf known as line viaduct. Wijnhaveneiland, stands an eye-catching Heading west from Hofplein along the red tower (see A10#29), nicknamed the Red south side of the Weena, one comes to the be- Apple (6). This 124-metre-tall apartment ginning of the Lijnbaan (3) the Netherlands’ tower plus residential/office block was real- VAN NELLE ONTWERPFABRIEK first shopping mall, designed in 1953 by Van ized in 2009 by Kees Christiaanse, KCAP. As (1929 / 2004) den Broek en Bakema. From today’s perspec- the building rises, the anodized aluminium 18 Architect: Brinkman v/d Vlugt , Wessel de Jonge tive, the small-scale pedestrian streets lined panels in front of the load-bearing facade col- Address: Van Nelleweg 1 by low-rise shops against a backdrop of tall umns become narrower and the areas of glaz- apartment buildings arranged around public ing become bigger. All the living rooms in the parks look more like a suburban shopping cen- tower are corner rooms with two fully glazed tre than the retail hub of a major city. Plans for walls affording spectacular views. the reconfiguration of the public space, drawn up by Paul Achterberg (Quadrat) are gradu- ally being implemented. The run-down town ‘Despite the crisis, hall square will in due course be redesigned to housing projects SCHEEPVAART & SPORTPAVILJOEN (2010) match the beautifully refurbished town hall. URBAN PODIUM (2009) WONING & KANTOOR (2011) TRANSPORTCOLLEGE (2005) Behind this town hall stands the old pub- are still being built Architect: MoederscheimMoonen Architect: Atelier Kempe Thill Architect: Architectenbureau Kühne & Co 14 Architect: Neutelings Riedijk Architects 19 Architects lic works office, the Stadstimmerhuis, which in the city centre.’ 5 Address: Grotekerkplein 27 9 Address: Boomgaardhof 73 Address: Lloydstraat 300 Address: v/d Duijn van Maasdamweg 601 58 A10 # 43 Eurovision Eurovision A10 # 43 59 the twenty-first century, the young monu- LP2 events space and a fish restaurant. The ment was converted into a multi-occupancy ‘penthouse’ structure that is raised above the building for the creative industry by Wessel roof surface on pilotis, is occupied by property de Jonge. Thanks to the clever way in which developer OVG. necessary changes to the building’s envelope Diagonally opposite the new Luxor Thea- (e.g. double glazing) have been carried out, tre on Rijnhaven stands the country’s tall- the characteristic slender steel frames have est office tower. Named after the river, the

DE ROTTERDAM (2013) been largely preserved. 38,000 m², 44-storey (25) was Architect: Rem Koolhaas OMA Next to Rotterdam’s airport, , designed by Dam & Partners. The tower is Address: Wilhelminakade a suburb of the same name comprising over heated and cooled by a system that uses river 23 HOGESCHOOL INHOLLAND METRO STATION BLIJDORP (2010) (2000 + 2008) 1800 dwellings is currently being built. Be- water and underground thermal energy stor- Architect: Maarten Struijs / 26 Architect: Erick van Egeraat tween this new residential area and an adja- age. At the top of the building is a sky lobby- 20 Gemeente Werken R’dam Address: Posthumalaan 90 cent parkland, MoederscheimMoonen de- cum-boardroom. Address: Van der Meydestraat signed a sports pavilion (19) for two sports Also on Rijnhaven is the all-glass build- clubs. The changing rooms and storage areas ing of the Inholland Hogeschool (26), from are concealed below a grass-covered mound, 2000. The most eye-catching aspect of this while the canteen and boardrooms on the Erick van Egeraat design is the imposing atri- KANTOOR RIJKSWATERSTAAT LAS PALMAS (2007) upper floor command an uninterrupted view um overlooking the harbour. Its glass facade is (2003) Architect: Benthem Crouwel Architecten of the playing fields. At night, the building’s partially printed with cobalt blue patterns. In Architect: Emiel Lamers / Address: Wilhelminakade 332 29 large illuminated roof canopy acts as a bea- 2008, Egeraat completed a 15,000 m² exten- 24 Rijksgebouwendienst Address: Butaanweg 1 Pernis con while also contributing to the safety of the sion behind the main building. It consists of surrounding area. three interconnected volumes, one of which As of two years ago, the suburb of Blijdorp, is a nine-storey block with a 35-metre clear forever associated with the zoo designed by span over the underlying metro tunnel. (1996) Sybold Van Ravensteyn, has been served by Right opposite the Rijnhaven metro station Architect: Ben van Berkel UN-Studio JONGERENHUISVESTING Address: Erasmusbrug Nieuwe Maas the new E metro line, which continues on to is the Zuidersterblok Youth Accommodation 21 ZUIDERSTERBLOK (2010) . The new Blijdorp Station (20) (27). This design by Groosman Partners 27 Architect: Groosman Partners Architecten was designed by Maarten Struijs, an archi- Architecten is part of an urban renewal plan Address: Hillelaan 31 tect with Rotterdam’s public works depart- for this run-down neighbourhood. Seen from ment. From the modest entrance building the road and the metro, the facades look very requested by local residents, monumental dynamic because the bay windows have been escalators and stairs lead past glass-tile placed at all different angles. The 60 two-per- walls to the platforms eighteen metres below son units (two separate tenants share a kitch- ground, the deepest of any metro station in en and bathroom) could in future be joined the Netherlands. together to make three-room apartments. This metro line continues south to Kop van From Rijnhaven one can take metro

NIEUWE LUXOR THEATER (2001) Zuid, the redeveloped district on the south line D to / where, in the Architect: Bolles & Wilson bank of the river Maas. The area is connected garden of a primary school, there is a free- SCHOOL PARASITE LAMPION Address: Posthumalaan 1 to the city centre by the 800-metre-long Eras- standing cooking classroom in the shape of 22 MAASTOREN (2009) (2004) PERISCOOPWONINGEN (2006) mus Bridge (21) designed by Ben van Ber- green mushroom. This Parasite Lampion Architect: Dam & Partners Architecten 28 Architect: Christoph Seyferth Architect: Joke Vos Architecten (Rotterdam, large and small) 25 Address: Wilhelminakade 1 Address: Lengweg 146 30 Address: Marinus van Elswijkkade 18 kel (UN Studio), which was opened in 1996. (28) from 2004 was designed by Christoph A mere fifteen years later, it is impossible to Seyferth. The mushroom is encircled by a A floating pedestrian bridge links Heren (10), which is to say ‘the tall gen- across the steel side elevations. for a housing scheme (16) along the Achter- imagine the skyline of Rotterdam without the low bench that the archi tect has compared Wijnhaveneiland with the fashionable Witte tlemen’. Designed by Wiel Arets, the two On Sint-Jobshaven stands a heritage- haven in 2004, but it took until 2011 for the cable-stayed bridge and its 139-metre-high to the bench around a big tree in African de Withstraat. The building at number 63 was 104-metre-high towers sit on top of a six-sto- listed former warehouse, Jobsveem (13), 37 townhouses to be completed. Two narrow asymmetrical pylon: the elegant structure has villages, which is often a central meeting built in 1874 for the Nieuwe Rotterdamsche rey podium containing street-level shops, a which was fully renovated in 2007 to a design white laneways and two raised wide streets become the icon of this most down-to-earth of point. The green steel facade is made up of 28 Courant newspaper. Since 1993 it has housed four-storey carpark with green-coloured glass by Mei architecten working with Wessel de (or small squares) divide the housing block Dutch cities. prefab panels. various Rotterdam cultural insitutes, includ- elevations and, on the fifth floor, a fitness cen- Jonge (see A10#20) . The creation of three into eight separate entities. Along Haven- Sited in the inner angle of the Wilhelmi- From Hoogvliet metro line C travels to ing the Nederlandse Fotomuseum. When that tre and swimming pool for the residents of the generous atria has brought ample daylight street, the white historical facades were reno- napier, overlooking the waters of both the the enclave of Pernis, long associated with institute moved to the Kop van Zuid district 290 apartments. The elegant flat elevations into the previously dark, 25-metre-deep vated and integrated into the block. There is a Rijnhaven and the Nieuwe Maas, the Nieuwe the petrochemical industry. Beside the river, (see no. 24), the section of the building on were achieved by placing the outdoor spaces building. From the access staircases located semi-underground car park below the block Luxor Theater (22) was completed in 2001. between a container depot and a stretch of the corner with Boomgaardsstraat was left – loggias – behind the black, basalt-like pre- in these atria, people can peek into the inte- and all the dwellings have an extra private Part of this striking red building, by Bolles & wasteland, stands a Rijkswaterstaat (Pub- vacant. Last October saw the opening here of cast concrete facade elements. riors of the various apartments and offices. On outdoor space on the roof. Wilson, is a steel ramp specially designed to lic Works and Water Management) office Cultuurcentrum WORM (7), designed by On the north side of the Westzeedijk, at the the ground floor are office spaces with a clear To the north of , Geurst & enable trucks to unload and turn. The com- building (29) realized in 2003 by Emiel 2012Architecten together with Atelier van end of the recently reopened Museum Park, is height of six metres, while the roof contains Schulze Architecten realized a unique pact auditorium seats 1500. The glass wall Lamers Architectures in collaboration with Lieshout. Of particular note is the new en- the celebrated Kunsthal (11). Designed joint- ten spacious penthouses for the happy few. housing project, Le Medi (17) in 2008. In a with sandblasted texts, between the foyer the Government Buildings Agency’s Depart- trance on Boomgaardsstraat where a bite has ly with Fumi Hoshino, it was Rem Koolhaas’s On the edge of the Lloydskwartier, stand- neighbourhood populated by many people and restaurant, is the work of the artist Milou ment of Design and Technology. From the been taken out of the building and the old fa- first built project in Rotterdam. It remains an ing proudly along the waterfront, is the from southern countries, the architects drew van Ham. sixty-metre-long, fully glazed corridor there is cade rebuilt stone by stone two metres in front important reference for many architecture Scheepvaart- en Transportcollege (14). inspiration from the architecture of Andalusia On the opposite side of Wilhelminapier, an unimpeded view of the Nieuwe Maas River. of the old building line. Opposite this entrance, students and architects. The design principles This trade school designed in 2005 by Neu- and North Africa. The brick external wall of the next to Renzo Piano’s slanted KPN tower from The wilderness around the building is an art- an elongated office and company dwelling behind the visible and uncompromising con- telings Riedijk Architects is full of references housing scheme is conceived as a town wall 2000, work is proceeding on De Rotterdam work by Lara Almarcegui and will remain a (8) looks as if it has been here for ever. In fact, frontation between the various functions of to the port and to shipbuilding, starting with complete with gates; once inside residents (23), a mixed-use complex designed by ‘wasteland’ until at least 2030. the 54-metre-long building was built in 2009 the building, the visitor flows and passers-by, the chequered facade pattern inspired by are in their own special world. In the centre Rem Koolhaas’s OMA. The 150-metre-high Metro lines C and B bring us to the final over an existing parking lot, which limited its as well as the combination of everyday and passing container ships. A notable feature is is a peaceful stone-paved courtyard with a complex is set to become a city within a city project in this tour guide. In , a depth to five metres. Designed and developed luxury materials, are still relevant today. the seventy-metre-high tower, served by doz- fountain and water line such as one finds in with 72,000 m² of office space, a 285-room new leafy suburb northeast of Rotterdam, by Architectenbureau Kühne & Co, it has a Following the Westzeedijk westwards, ens of escalators, from which the lecture room the Alhambra Palace in Andalusia. The white hotel, 220 apartments, cinema, fitness cen- stand twelve periscope dwellings (30) by dwelling for architect Joost Kühne on the top keeping the 185-metre-high from (with red interior) protrudes like a periscope, facades of the dwellings have un-Dutch brick tre, shops and a 684-space car park. The three Joke Vos Architecten, the outcome of an in- floor (see A10#28). Two years later, on the 1960 on your right, we arrive at the Lloyds­ providing views of the Port of Rotterdam and window surrounds. towers standing on top of a podium appear to vited competition. The dwellings are arranged north side of Westblaak, the same firm built a kwartier, a new district built on the site of beyond it, the North Sea. Beside the Schie canal and directly op- have been cut through halfway up and slight- in four groups of three ‘drive-in’ dwellings. home-work unit (9) above the entrance to an the shipping terminal from where passenger Opposite the school is another typical posite Carel Weeber’s orange penitentiary ly displaced. Completion is scheduled for late On the ground floor is a garage and a high- existing courtyard, making use of the provision ships to the Dutch East Indies once set sail. Rotterdam project, a ‘temporary’ container of 1989, stands the Van Nelle Ontwerpfab- 2013. One can only hope that by then the ceilinged ‘water room’ with a deck out over for a gateway building in the old zoning plan. Way back in 1985, the OT-theatre (12), an restaurant (15) called ‘Wijn of Water’ (Wine riek (18). Built between 1928 and 1931 by demand for new homes and offices will have the water. There is a second living area with Access to the dwelling is via a narrow stair/lift- independent theatre company, took over the or Water), that has been operating now since Brinkman & Van der Vlugt, the former coffee, picked up again. veranda on the floor above. well built against the building to the left of the 1915 brick harbour master’s building and 2005. The unpretentious ensemble of nine tea and tobacco factory is a textbook exam- A little further along this side of Wilhelmi- And this is where our tour ends. Of course, entryway. The first floor contains the bedroom, the room where dock workers once queued second-hand containers was designed by ar- ple of Dutch modernism. At the beginning of napier stands Las Palmas (24). This 1953 there is a lot more interesting new architecture bathroom and a spacious kitchen, the floor for their wages became a black box theatre. chitect Caroline Bijvoet. The clever device of workshop building is yet another Van de to see in Rotterdam. A visit to the recently ex- above the living room and office, while the roof In 2004 Franz Ziegler designed an orthogo- standing one container on-end, campanile-like Broek & Bakema creation. The more recent panded and refurbished Netherlands Architec- boasts a generous 100 m² terrace. nal extension within which he placed a free- at the outer edge of an enclosed terrace, lends ‘Rotterdam is the most roof structure was added by Benthem Crou- ture Institute (NAi), just as the original building Since 2000, the northern end of the Eras- standing, all-timber 180-seat auditorium the small restaurant a distinctive presence. wel when they renovated the entire building a design by Jo Coenen, with its large architec- mus Bridge has been marked by two stately modelled on the old theatre. When the sun In the neighbouring historical Delfshaven down-to-earth of Dutch in 2007. Tenants of the 21,000 m² complex ture bookshop, will be a great help to anyone black apartment towers known as De Hoge is low in the sky, a lively moiré pattern plays district, Studio Sputnik won the competition cities.’ include the Nederlands Fotomuseum, the wishing to continue to explore the city.

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