Tagged: dudok

View from the roof of Erasmus House during the blue hour after sunset, in the direction of Binnenwegplein, Old and New Binnenweg

3. September 2018

Summer Evening on a Roof in Rotterdam

It’s widely known that a lot of things in Rotterdam are named after Erasmus: the university, the medical center, a major bridge, to name but a few. No everyone knows that there is also an Erasmus House. Which is in fact not really a house in the traditional meaning of the word: it’s a 12 storey high office tower at Coolsingel, with the 17th century Schielandshuis and a number of post-war highrise buildings as neighbors. Bombing The building was designed by architect W.M Dudok and was completed shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War. It survived the bombardment… Read More

Combination of an old photo of people waiting in line in front of the Bijenkorf department store in Rotterdam with a recent image of the same location on Coolsingel

Various

5. February 2018

The Return of the Bijenkorf Sculpture: an Update

“The ‘Bijenkorf stone’ is coming back – perhaps”, NRC, a national newspaper with Rotterdam roots, headlined on Saturday 3 February. And indeed: there is news about the sculpture by Hendrik van den Eijnde, which from 1930 to 1960 decorated the façade of the old Bijenkorf department store, designed by architect W.M. Dudok. The sculpture is currently hidden in a place that doesn’t really do it justice: the Bijenkorf’s logistic center in Woerden. But as the only remnant of the architectural masterpiece that was so ruthlessly demolished in 1960, it deserves a location in the center of Rotterdam, preferably as close… Read More

Interior photo of the bridge keepers cabin of the Orange Bridge in Schiedam, during the Dudok exhibition with photos and drawings of Dudok's Rotterdam Bijenkorf

Various

3. July 2016

Dudok exhibition in Schiedam: the Bijenkorf triptych and more…

During the weekend of 2 and 3 July I organized an exhibition, together with Jan Sluijter, in the cutest (and probably the smallest) art gallery of Schiedam: the bridge keepers cabin of the Orange Bridge across the New Harbour. The photo exhibition was dedicated to the architecture of Willem Marinus Dudok. We had a good occasion for that: two hundred meters from the venue is one of Dudok’s creations: the HAV Bank, currently in use as a residential building. The exhibition was, admittedly, mostly focussed on one building: the old Rotterdam Bijenkorf. We had a lot of material about that… Read More

Artist impression of the facade sculpture by Hendrik van den Eijnde, originally on the old Bijenkorf bij architect Dudok, integrated in one of the entrances of Beurs metro station in Rotterdam

Visualisation

2. November 2015

A Visit to the Bijenkorf Sculpture

Last Friday I finally saw it in reality, the sculpture by Hendrik van den Eijnde that once adorned the regretted Bijenkorf department store by architect Dudok on Coolsingel. Since 1973 the piece has been sitting on the Bijenkorf’s expedition area in Woerden: For years people have been trying to return van den Eijnde’s work to Rotterdam. As a result of questions by Labour councilor Co Engberts and of the proposal by West8 for refurbishment of Coolsingel, the discussion about the sculpture has flared up again. A good reason to visit the object, together with some stakeholders, including representatives of the… Read More

Impression of Dudok's Bijenkorf department store and windmill de Noord possibly reconstructed in Miniworld Rotterdam

Visualisation

15. October 2015

The Windmill Will be Reconstructed! But not on Oostplein

Well over a year ago I made a visualization of the reconstruction of the windmill on Oostplein in Rotterdam. A brief summary: the mill survived the bombing of 1940 but burned down in 1954; plans for rebuilding were voted down by the City Council because the windmill was standing in the way of progress. Since then, Oostplein has been the most desolate square of the country, or at least of Rotterdam. Reconstruction of the windmill would be a way to give the place some of its former allure again. Guerrilla marketing A guerrilla marketing campaign that I did together with Gyz… Read More

The facade sculpture from the old Bijenkorf department store by Dudok on the Coolsingel after renovation of the Rotterdam's main boulevard to a design by West 8

Visualisation

7. September 2015

The New Coolsingel: More Space for Pedestrians and for Dudok

In early September the plans for Coolsingel, Rotterdam’s main urban axis, were made public. The proposal by Adriaan Geuze makes some very smart moves concerning the various flows of traffic on the busy boulevard. The tram tracks remain where they are, because it would be too expensive to move them. But car traffic, with less lanes, is concentrated east of the tram. Cyclists get a generous lane on the west side. The rest of the space is for pedestrians. Balance This plan holds a good balance between the desire of some to completely pedestrianize Coolsingel and the wishes of others… Read More

Facade sculpture of the old Bijenkorf department store by architect Dudok, relocated to it's original position on Coolsingel, supported by a steel structure

Visualisation

18. May 2015

The Only Right Place for the Bijenkorf Sculpture

Exactly 75 years after the old Bijenkorf department store in Rotterdam was hit by a German bomb, Dudok’s masterpiece is back in the spotlight. It’s a tragic story: the most beautiful Dutch building of the twentieth century was badly damaged in the bombing on May 14, 1940, partially patched up but finally demolished in 1960. I wrote earlier about this forgotten monument on the 3Develop website and in a blog article. City of Light A very important role in the renewed interest is played by the documentary City of Light, the forgotten Bijenkorf of Rotterdam, made by journalist Peter Veenendaal.… Read More

The demolished Old Bijenkorf department store in Rotterdam by architect Dudok, as seen from the Schieland tower and surrounded by present day highrise buildings

Visualisation

18. May 2014

The Unknown Side of Dudok

Two years ago I made the Bijenkorf triptych , as a homage to a legendary building with a tragic history: the old Bijenkorf department store in Rotterdam by architect W.M. Dudok. Maybe the most beautiful building that was constructed in the Netherlands in the twentieth century, but after only ten years, it was largely destroyed by German bombs. The part that survived the bombing was patched up and served twenty years as a department store and as storage but was finally demolished in 1960. The documentary City of Light by Peter Veenendaal tells the complete story about this lost architectural… Read More

Exhibition of images of Dudok's Bijenkorf department store at the Nivon cafe in Rotterdam

Various

11. March 2014

Exhibited

Yesterday my exhibition in the cafe at the Nivon building in Rotterdam started. The theme of the exhibition is the architecture and history of Rotterdam; on display are the three images of the old Bijenkorf bij architect Dudok, the panorama of Schouwburgplein and a series of digital paintings showing various locations in the city. The works are exhibited at the Nivon untill the end of april. UPDATE: The Bijenkorf Triptych was also exhibited at the Dudok Expo at the Oranjebrug gallery in Schiedam.

Night image of Dudok's Bijenkorf in Rotterdam on its original location surrounded by present day buildings, seen from the tram stop on Coolsingel

Various / Visualisation

8. February 2014

The Beehive Exhibited

On March 10, my first exhibition opens with, among others, this piece, showing the old Bijenkorf by architected W.M.Dudok on it’s original location, surrounded by present day buildings. The old Bijenkorf (or “Beehive”), a legendary building with a tragic history: opened in 1930, severily damaged during the bombing in 1940, and finally demolished in 1960. Soon virtually resurrected on the exhibition at the Nivo Dirk Smit 76, Rotterdam. UPDATE: this, and the other two sections of the Bijenkorf triptych, were also part of the Dudok exhibition at the Oranjebrug gallery in Schiedam on July 2nd and 3rd, 2016