Museum Boijmans van Beuningen Rotterdam, in collaboration with the National Gallery of Modern Art in Edinburgh and the Hamburger Kunsthalle, presents ‘Mad About Surrealism’ with over 300 surrealistic works from Dalí, Ernst, Magritte, Miró and others. Most of the works have rarely ever been exhibited and some of them might never be on display again. The exhibition showcases the collections of four renowned surrealism collectors: Roland Penrose, Edward James, Gabrielle Keiller and Ulla and Heiner Pietzsch.
Tags: Rotterdam, The Netherlands Comments Off on Exhibition design for the international exhibition Mad About Surrealism in Rotterdam, The Netherlands by MAXWAN architects + urbanists
In the design of the new Zalmplaat School, the expressive and soft building volume is equipped with two floors with rounded corners, creating an all-round soft shape. Colourful letters and strips in combination with wavy movements of the frontage make a characteristic and expressive building; a school with a familiar yet personal and distinctive expression, recognisable for the children, teachers and neighbourhood.
Matryoskha House transforms an early 20th century townhouse into two high-end apartments by radically opening it up. Situated in the center of Rotterdam, the house was in a derelict state due the previous owner’s conversion of it into a sub-standard workers’ hotel. Bothered by the neglect, a neighbor acquired the property and gave Shift architecture urbanism the commission to give it an extreme makeover.
Casa Kwantes bases itself around the clients’ desire for seclusion and privacy, whilst having a maximum of daylight and open living spaces. From the road, the bare brick wall offers only a partial glimpse into the property and family life through an opening of the white brickwork façade – a subtle indented entrance leading into an initially dark and enclosed entrance hall. In contrast, the reverse of the property completely opens up to the south with curved windows following the entire winding façade wrapped around a central olive tree.
The skinnySCAR project of architect couple Gwendolyn Huisman and Marijn Boterman shows how forgotten empty spaces in the city can be used. Each city has neglected spaces like this, that are unused and underrated. These gaps can be upgraded to complete the urban fabric, while giving it a boost and creating possibilities for new forms of urban living for the adventurous ones. As young designers, Gwendolyn and Marijn are not limited by design traditions and conventions, and they saw the potential and challenge of a narrow gap with extreme proportions in an old Rotterdam neighborhood. In 2012 the process to convince the landowners to sell the narrow plot started, so they could develop it into their own home. After a short construction period of only 4 months in 2015/2016, the contractor left them an unfinished structure. They’ve been finishing the entire interior themselves since then and their design ideas are becoming manifest.
The new headquarters of regional radio and television station RTV Rijnmond is phase 4a in the redevelopment of the Schiecentrale on Lloydstraat in Rotterdam. The building, which houses not only RTV Rijnmond but also other firms, forms the heart of the audio-visual sector in Rotterdam along with Schiecentrale, the 25kV building, STROOM hotel and restaurant, and the new building of phase 4b.
In the summer of 2013 Mei architects and planners won the architect selection procedure for the design of the new volume and the redevelopment of the Fenix I warehouse..
The Fenix warehouses, located opposite Hotel New York and the Rijnhaven Bridge, were built in 1922 in Katendrecht, Rotterdam. Previously called the San Francisco warehouse, the structure has two levels with floor heights of six metres, and was originally 360 metres in length.
Project: Fenix I – Loft apartments on top of a warehouse
Location: Veerlaan / Rijnhaven Rotterdam NL
Photography: Mei & WAX
Client: Heijmans Vastgoed
Team Mei architects and planners: Robert Winkel, Menno van der Woude, Michiel van Loon, Robert Platje, Roy Wijte, Riemer Postma, Ruben Aalbersberg, Kasia Domachowska, Adriaan Smidt, Rutger Kuipers, Rob reintjes, Danijel Gavranovic, King Chaichana, Johan van Es
Area: 8.500 m2 commercial, cultural & culinary / ca. 9.000 m2 parking / ca. 23.000 m2 loft apartments
KAAN Architecten has moved to a new office, marking a page-turn for the expanding architectural practice. The new location is in the heart of Rotterdam, situated along the Maas river, just a few meters from the iconic Erasmus bridge and the firm’s awardwinning project Education Center at Erasmus Medical Center University. The project has transformed 1.400 sqm of the former premises of De Nederlandsche Bank into KAAN’s new open-space headquarters, which encompasses more than 80 workspaces.
Though Rotterdam – with its high-rise and modern developments – feels like a pretty dense city, there are still empty plots in the city center. These are the result of the ambitious post-war plans in between old houses. The gaps in between old and new are often left open, which are potential locations for small buildings. The local-government stimulates initiatives for such small scale projects. We started to bike around the city to find a plot in our favorite neighborhood and we took a close look to possible locations and the regulations that comply. About 2 years ago [sept 2014] we laid eyes on this very location, and we contacted the local-government with an email questioning: can we build here? Followed by a reply: Yes, please! The contractor started building in March 2016 and finished in July 2016.
What would you expect, when entering a 250 m2 loft at De Rotterdam, the biggest building of The Netherlands, (designed by OMA/Rem Koolhaas), at the height of 143 meters, on the 43rd floor? Rotterdam seen from the air shows the omnipresence of water flowing through the city centre. The 25 meter total glass façade stretching from floor to ceiling, offers you a view of the Maas river, flowing through the city towards the Rotterdam harbour. You will look down upon the Erasmus Bridge (designed by UN Studio), the Markthal (designed by MVRDV), the city centre, Delft and on a clear day even The Hague is part of the view.