The city lies at the centre of the densely populated and industrialized triangle of London, Paris, and the German Ruhr district. It is at the mouth of two important rivers, the Rhine and the Meuse. It also opens to the North Sea, the world’s most heavily navigated sea.
This makes Rotterdam’s harbour the largest port in the world in terms of capacity.
But because of its strategic importance, during World War II the city of Rotterdam was completely destroyed by bombs.
After the war, city planners decided instead of repairing the old buildings, they would look to the future and create a hub for creativity and modern architecture.
What arose was an opportunity to rebuild an architecturally unique and modern city. Today it is home to some amazing and unique buildings.
The Cube Houses, also known as Kubuswoningen, are a set of innovative houses. Post-war architecture was often grey, so plans were made to build more colourful areas in Rotterdam.
A splash of yellow in an otherwise grey setting, these buildings were designed to resemble a collection of trees within a forest and create a sense of community for the residents. The complex also needed to be built as a bridge over a busy 4 lane road. There are 38 small cubes and two super-cubes, all attached to each other. Designed in the '70's they were built between 1975 to 1977 and 1982 to 1984
Each cube is inclined at a 45-degree angle that joins the neighbouring cube. The hexagonal pillars on which they rest are arranged in an asymmetrical position, symbolizing tree trunks, resembling a futuristic forest.
None of the Cube Houses are the same inside, but they have a very similar layout. Each home is three stories high.
The entryway is on the ground floor. The next floor there are a living room and kitchen.
A roof-top garden or a closed terrace is on the top floor of each cube house.
Living area totals roughly 100 square meters (1076 sq ft) per home. The walls are diagonal.
Windows are mostly placed in the corners and are not flat, which provides light coming from different angles.
Another interesting building is the Markthal, a sustainable combination of food, leisure, living, and parking. It was conceived as an entirely new perspective on a typical Dutch market square. It opened in October 2014 by Queen Máxima of the Netherlands.
The building houses 228 luxury apartments, retail space (4600 m2/ 50,000 sq ft) and an underground 4-storey parking garage with a capacity of over 1200 cars.
The Markthal houses about 100 fresh food stalls, 15 food shops, a variety of restaurants and a supermarket. The luxury residential apartments have windows facing down into the main hall.
But right now, we are enjoying being nomads, so, we will continue our journey of living out of a suitcase and wandering aimlessly.
P.S. To dive deeper into Rotterdam's vibrant architectural achievements you can check out this page: https://en.rotterdam.info/architecture/
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