N e t h e r l a n d s S t u d y T r i p
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Rotterdam is filled with...interesting...architecture. The city was heavily bombed during World War II, huge swaths of the town were destroyed to prevent shipments being made to Britain. Therefore, in the recent past the city has had a great opportunity to rebuild, resulting in some creative spaces. The result is a town filled with high-rise buildings and modern
architecture.
We had lunch at the historic America Hotel, The beginning of the Holland-America Line. The station that most of our European ancestors travelled through.
However, what I believe to be the most successful part of the city was its historic district. First, Oude Haven (or Old Harbor) which has been converted into a restaurant district was filled with patrons eating and drinking along the waterfront. Towering over this harbor are the famous Rotterdam cube houses. A set of innovative houses designed by architect Piet Blom and based on the concept of "living as an urban roof": high density housing with sufficient space on the ground level. Blom tilted the cube of a conventional house 45 degrees, and rested it upon a hexagon-shaped pylon. His design represents a village within a city, where each house represents a tree, and all the houses together, a forest
On the other side of the harbor is het Witte Huis. Jugenstil. The Low Countries have it going on. This tower was designed by Willem Molenbroek and when it was built in 1898 it was the tallest building in Europe.
Second, we walked through the Oude Westen (or Old West Side) which was filled with mixed-use buildings built at a more human scale and maintaining much of their historic structures. this neighborhood boasts the famous Cafe Unie, one of the most important de Stijl buildings in the world.
Rotterdam should be known as the city of cool bridges, including a centrally suspended bridge, and a drawbridge that pivots in the center to flip open. The span and it's counterweight look like a garden trowel.
Rotterdam: Amsterdam's Working-Class Sister
We spent a day in Rotterdam, a city that was heavily bombed during World War II. The result is a very modern city that actually feels like a city.
The morning started out with a train ride from Amsterdam Centraal to Rotterdam Centraal. The station has been extensively remodeled since I last visited.
As we found out in our briefing by Joep Boute of the Rotterdam City Planning Department, the new station was designed to integrate the transportation of the city. While the site doesn't show it, there is parking for thousands of cars and bikes underground at the station. Above the underground parking lots, there is a giant flood tank. Rotterdam is a city at war with the Sea, and has found remarkably clever ways to move and store water throughout the city.
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