Tagged: history

Fragment of the double street map of Rotterdam which compares the streets, blocks and harbours of the city in 1939 and 2014

27. October 2014

Rotterdam: a Tale of Two Cities

Anyone who studies a street map of Rotterdam before 1940 gets confused. Rotterdammers today would have a hard time finding their way in that pre-war city. Not only the buildings are different, also the street plan has changed beyond recognition. There are in fact two different cities. Those two cities share the same location but are separated by time. With a breaking point at the day of the bombing: May 14, 1940. Of course, other cities have also changed enormously since, say, the 1930s. But nowhere are the differences as dramatic as in Rotterdam. The destruction of the street plan Not… Read More

Artist impression of Windmill De Noord, reconstructed on the refurbished and greened Oostplein in Rotterdam

Visualisation

30. July 2014

Rotterdam, Oostplein: Return of the Windmill

If you would like to rebuild all the lost monuments in Rotterdam, you are faced with an impossible task. It may not be desirable either, all this nostalgia for an idealized past. We must move on and build cities that are an answer to the challenges of our time. However, I would like to make an exception for windmill De Noord on Oostplein. A relatively small structure, so it’s easy to realize. But the impact on the square and its surroundings would be enormous. Rotterdam 2040 A while ago I saw on Vimeo the movie Rotterdam 2040, created by Gyz… 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

Images of Gouda cheese combined with sketches of houses and town hall at Gouda's market square, as part of a proposal for a Welcome Wall near the railway station

Digital art

8. May 2014

A City of Cheese

The City Marketing board of Gouda (yes, home of the famous cheese) recently organized a design competition for a Welcome Wall, composed of canvases with a height of 4 meters and a total length of 63 meters. The structure is going to beautify a windowless wall next to the station. It should, according the contest conditions, evoke a warm and positive image of the city. Cheese and history Typical Gouda themes like cheese and cultural history should find their way into the design. I took that last condition quite literally by combining images of all types of Gouda cheese with… Read More

Overview of the renovated Perry-dock in Flushing, the Netherlands

Photography

20. March 2014

Return to Flushing, part 1

(see also Return to Flushing, part 2) On Sunday March 16th Dutch Railways offered free travel for everybody who showed the book that Tommy Wieringa wrote for the Books Week. A great opportunity to take a look in Flushing again. A mere two hours travel from Rotterdam, spend mainly reading the book. Around 2006, I worked on the plans that VHP made for the site of the shipyard De Schelde. A promising and ambitious project for this area bordering downtown Flushing, reusing many historical features. Renovation of Perry’s Dock Now, eight years later, the developments still need to get going.… Read More

The fortifications and city of of Venlo in the 17th century, based on the map in the atlas by Joan Blaeu

Design / Visualisation

22. February 2014

Return to Venlo: the fortifications reconstructed

The picture, further on on this page, of the fortifications of Venlo is actually a spin-off of the Koninginneplein project. Working for Royal HaskoningDHV, I made the design for the glass panels in the balustrade, together with colleague Mari Baauw. The panels on the city side show the Venlo fortifications that once were on that location. On the other side are the armies that have tried time and again to conquer the city. Along the walking route from the station to the city center are the dates of the many battles in the history of Venlo, embossed in the concrete… Read More