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ROTTERDAM
Completely destroyed by the second world war Rotterdam became an
experimen-tal field for dutch architects. Since the postwar period the
inner city centre has been changed and new concepts are still tried out.
The different movements of the last 50 years are easily identificable.
The range goes from the shopping area Lijnbaan with buildings by van
den Broek & Bakema and Hugh Maaskant to Schouwburgplein designed by
West 8. Since the 80ies new highrises are constantly being added to the
impressive skyline.
The
Dutch Architectural Institute NAI is situated in the Museumspark,
surrounded by other archi-tectural highlights such as the Kunsthal by
Rem Koolhaas and the Museum Boijmans van Beuningen. In 2001 Rotterdam
celebrated its status as cultural capital with an exhibition showing
100 years of housing tradition in the Netherlands. Rotterdam´s new
Architecture Biennal was launched in 2003.
The harbour
of Rotterdam is not only the city's economic stimulator, also the town
planning follows its dynamics. Abandoned harbour areas near the city
centre provide space for ambitious city development projects such as
Kop van Zuid, Lloyd Quarter or Katendrecht. On the estuary of the
Maas-river, however, the biggest harbour of Europe grows further into
the north sea with a second Maasplein ("Maasvlakte").
www.rotterdam.nl (city´s internet site)
www.nai.nl (Dutch Architecture Institute)
Architecture
by Piet Blom, Marcel Breuer, Brinkmann & van der Vlugt, van den
Broek & Bakema, Pi de Bruin, Jo Coenen, Kees Christiaanse, Willem
Dudok, Teun Koolhaas, Hugh Maaskant, Mecanoo, Murhy Jahn, OMA Rem
Koolhaas, J.J.P.Oud, Wim Quist, Skidmore Owings & Merrill, Koen van
Velsen, Carel Weeber, West 8 and many others
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