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87-676: The initiative was founded in 1989 and is supported by 19 European countries. The organizer of these competitions is the “Europan Europe” association, based in Paris, which forms the European umbrella organisation for a network of national European organisations. The President of the association is currently Manuel Blanco, and the General Secretary is Didier Rebois. The respective national organisations consist of representatives of public administrations, cities and municipalities, as well as representatives of

174-413: A case study, he made a specific critique of the renderings of Valley, an MVRDV project located in an emerging business district of Amsterdam and subsequently named the world's best skyscraper in the 2021 Emporis Awards. Minkjan saw the renderings as cosmetic, deceptive images that hid the environmental, financial challenges that would occur during and after the building's construction, saying "In reality ...

261-423: A few stages for pop music , like Rotown , Poortgebouw and Annabel. Additionally, the venue WORM focuses on experimental music , as well as various other cultural activities. WORM also screens films and hosts a film lab, Filmwerkplaats . In fact, Rotterdam has an extensive film history, ranging from avant-garde classics, such as The Bridge ( Ivens , 1928), to internationally acclaimed documentaries from

348-898: A fixed office until the firm's first major commission arrived. This was the new offices for the public broadcasting corporation VPRO in Hilversum, the Netherlands (1993–1997). Other early built works include the Wozoco housing in Amsterdam (1994–1997) and the Dutch Pavilion at the Hannover World Exhibition Expo 2000 (1997–2000). These were followed by a business park 'Flight Forum' in Eindhoven , Gemini Residence silo conversion in Copenhagen,

435-424: A green valley winds between the fourth and fifth floors, wholly accessible via two stone external staircases. MVRDV won the design competition for the depot in 2013, for which the assignment was to offer a glimpse behind the scenes of the museum world and make the whole art collection accessible to the public. The world’s first publicly accessible art storage facility and a 2023 Architectural Digest “Work of Wonder”,

522-451: A large part of Rotterdam's multi-ethnic and multicultural diversity. 52.9% of the population have at least one parent born outside the country. There are 80,000 Muslims, constituting 13% of the population in 2010. The former mayor of Rotterdam, Ahmed Aboutaleb (2009-2024), is of Moroccan descent and is a practicing Muslim. The city is home to the largest Dutch Antillean community in the Netherlands. The city also has its own China Town at

609-615: A more integrated city-wide planning would create more successful buildings, although Bevan tempered his criticism in acknowledging that "There is curiosity value then in MVRDV’s immovable feast with its seemingly calculated jolie laide proportions and it has brought vigour to a corner of the city demanding it". The urban and architectural geographer Mark Minkjan expressed a belief that contemporary architects often serve as makeup artists of sales pitches, or producers of visually pleasing "eye candies" using MVRDV's "Valley" to illustrate his view. As

696-561: A population of only a few thousand. Around the year 1350, a shipping canal (the Rotterdamse Schie ) was completed, which provided Rotterdam access to the larger towns in the north, allowing it to become a local trans-shipment centre between the Netherlands, England and Germany , and to urbanize . Beginning in the 1600's, Rotterdam was involved in the Atlantic slave trade . According to historian Gerhard de Kok, "Rotterdam merchants were

783-751: A port of importance, becoming the seat of one of the six "chambers" of the Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie (VOC), the Dutch East India Company and one of the five "chambers" of the West-Indische Compagnie (WIC), the Dutch West India Company . The greatest spurt of growth, both in port activity and population, followed the completion of the Nieuwe Waterweg in 1872. The city and harbour started to expand on

870-580: A range of festivals and other events, and a buzzing nightlife. The city has its own orchestra, the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra , with its well-regarded young music director Lahav Shani , which plays at the congress and concert building De Doelen . The Ahoy complex in the south of the city is used for pop concerts, exhibitions, tennis tournaments and other activities. There are also several theatres and cinemas, including LantarenVenster and Cinerama. Alongside Porto , Rotterdam

957-496: A reminder also for posterity of the courage and strength with which the people of Rotterdam bore all the trials of the war and the important part they took in the liberation of the fatherland.... —Wilhelmina of the Netherlands Rotterdam was gradually rebuilt from the 1950s through to the 1970s. Because the city centre was largely destroyed, new spatial infrastructure could be built, making it an open and modern city. In 1953

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1044-641: A selective roster of emerging international artists. The Hoboken campus of EUR houses the Dijkzigt (general) hospital, the Sophia Hospital (for children), Daniel den Hoed clinic (cancer institute) and the medical department of the university. They are known collectively as the Erasmus Medical Center . This center is ranked third in Europe by CSIC as a hospital, and is also ranked within top 50 universities of

1131-574: A single conurbation. They share the Rotterdam The Hague Airport and a light rail system called RandstadRail . Consideration is being given to creating an official Metropolitan region Rotterdam The Hague ( Metropoolregio Rotterdam Den Haag ), which would have a combined population approaching 2.5 million. In its turn, the Rijnmond conurbation is part of the southern wing (the Zuidvleugel ) of

1218-499: A structural development vision for Dutch New Town Almere , the masterplan for the Floriade (Netherlands) Horticultural Expo 2022, also in Almere, and a research masterplan into the future of greater Paris which was commissioned by French president Nicolas Sarkozy and the mayor of Paris Bertrand Delanoë . MRVDV also maintains a research-oriented project called "The Why Factory", which

1305-565: A temperate oceanic climate ( Köppen climate classification Cfb ) similar to all of the coastal areas in the Netherlands. Located near to the coast, its climate is slightly milder than locations further inland. Winters are cool with frequent cold days, while the summers are mild to warm, with occasional hot temperatures. Temperature rises above 30 °C on average 4 days each summer, while (night) temperatures can drop below −5 °C during winter for short periods of time, mostly during periods of sustained easterly (continental) winds. Precipitation

1392-547: A vocational university that teaches music, dance and circus. Unique to the city is the Shipping & Transport College which offers masters, bachelors and vocational diplomas on all levels. Once primarily a city of labour, for its harbour and related industries, Rotterdam has now developed into a city of culture too, with various museums, cultural centres and activities, offering a stage for architecture , music, visuals arts, poetry, cinema, theatre, and culture more generally, with

1479-528: Is a Rotterdam , Netherlands -based architecture and urban design practice founded in 1993, with additional offices in Berlin, New York, Paris, and Shanghai. It is currently regarded as one of the world's finest architecture firms. MVRDV is an acronym of the founding members' surnames: Winy Maas , Jacob van Rijs , and Nathalie de Vries . Maas and Van Rijs worked at OMA , De Vries at Mecanoo before starting MVRDV. The trio studied architecture together at

1566-416: Is a global think tank and research institute at Delft University of Technology , led by professor Winy Maas . Its research revolves around analyzing urban developments and providing scenarios for future cities and societies . There is particular focus on opening engaging the public in architectural debate through exhibitions , workshops, publications and panel discussions . Founded in 2007,

1653-604: Is a more upscale shopping street, with retailers like Michael Kors , 7 For All Mankind , Calvin Klein , Hugo Boss , Tommy Hilfiger and the Dutch well-known men's clothier Oger . Another upscale shopping venue is a flagship store of department store De Bijenkorf . Located a little more to the east is the Markthal , with lots of small retailers inside. This hall is also one of Rotterdam's famous architectural landmarks. The main shopping venue in

1740-442: Is also home to the regional headquarters of chemical company LyondellBasell , commodities trading company Glencore , pharmaceutical company Pfizer , logistics companies Stolt-Nielsen , electrical equipment company ABB and consumer goods company Procter & Gamble . Furthermore, Rotterdam has the Dutch headquarters of Allianz , Maersk , Petrobras , Samskip , Louis Dreyfus Group , and Aon . The City of Rotterdam makes use of

1827-449: Is generally moderate throughout the year, although spring and summer (particularly before August) are relatively drier and sunnier, while autumn and winter are cloudier with more frequent rain (or snow). The following climate data is from the airport, which is slightly cooler than the city, being surrounded by water canals which make the climate milder and with a higher relative humidity . The city has an urban heat island , especially inside

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1914-549: Is home to over 180 different nationalities. Rotterdam is known for its university , riverside setting, lively cultural life, maritime heritage and modern architecture . The near-complete destruction of the city centre during the World War II German bombing has resulted in a varied architectural landscape, including skyscrapers designed by architects such as Rem Koolhaas , Piet Blom and Ben van Berkel . The Rhine , Meuse and Scheldt give waterway access into

2001-626: Is now acknowledged as the climate crisis must be sought on a large scale. Nathalie de Vries cites De Stijl , the Dutch museum director Franks Haks, and Mecanoo ´s housing and neighbourhood projects as influences. Mecanoo would be where de Vries began her professional career. The variety of design choices in their buildings demonstrate that MVRDV wishes not to develop a specific style of architecture, but to provide and develop different methods in designing architecture and urban space. Projects are developed by interdisciplinary teams that test different possibilities rather than designing "top-down" . Over

2088-550: Is part of the Rotterdam–The Hague metropolitan area which, as of 2015, covers an area of 1,130 km , of which 990 km km is land, and has a population of approximately 2,563,197. As of 2019, the municipality itself occupies an area of 325.79 km , 208.80 km of which is land, and is home to 638,751 inhabitants. Its population peaked at 731,564 in 1965, but the dual processes of suburbanization and counterurbanization saw this number steadily decline over

2175-488: The Delft University of Technology , Netherlands and won the " Europan 2" competition with their project "Berlinvoids" in 1991 before founding MVRDV two years later. The situation for starting a new office in the Netherlands was favourable - government support for young architects means all three received a grant to help start their architectural practice. It took some time for the company to get going, working without

2262-605: The Lijnbaan was opened, the first car-free shopping street in Europe. The progressive design attracted a lot of international attention, in which film and television played an important role. The new Central Station was completed in 1957, with the Groothandelsgebouw from 1953 next to it. The Euromast was erected in 1960 on the occasion of the Floriade . From the 1980s onwards the city councils began developing an active architectural policy. The harbours were moving westwards and

2349-610: The Randstad , which is one of the most important economic and densely populated areas in the north-west of Europe. Having a population of 7.1 million, the Randstad is the sixth-largest urban area in Europe (after Moscow, London, Paris, Istanbul, and the Rhein-Ruhr Area). The Zuidvleugel, situated in the province of South Holland , has a population of around 3 million. Rotterdam experiences

2436-506: The Rotte . In 1340, Rotterdam was granted city rights by William IV, Count of Holland . The Rotterdam–The Hague metropolitan area , with a population of approximately 2.7 million, is the 10th-largest in the European Union and the most populous in the country. A major logistic and economic centre, Rotterdam is Europe's largest seaport . In 2022, Rotterdam had a population of 655,468 and

2523-677: The Willemsbrug ('Willems Bridge') together with the Koninginnebrug ('Queen's Bridge'); and the Van Brienenoordbrug ('Van Brienenoord Bridge'). The former railway lift bridge De Hef ('the Lift') is preserved as a Rijksmonument (national heritage site) in lifted position between the Noordereiland ('North Island') and the south of Rotterdam. The city centre is located on the northern bank of

2610-441: The 1960s until the 2000s, Rotterdam had a thriving squatters movement , which not only accommodated thousands of people, but also created social centres and cultural venues. From this movement came clubs like Boogjes, Eksit, Nighttown, Vlerk and Waterfront. A major reference is Poortgebouw , which was squatted in 1980 and quickly legalised. Rotterdam also became the home of Gabber , a type of hardcore electronic music popular in

2697-505: The 2009 rankings of Masters of Management, the school reached first place with the CEMS Master in Management and the tenth place with its RSM Master in Management. The university is also home to Europe's largest student association, STAR Study Association Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University and the world's largest student association, AIESEC , has its international office in

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2784-585: The British coordinated espionage in Germany and occupied Belgium. During World War I, an average of 25,000 Belgian refugees lived in the city, as well as hundreds of German deserters and escaped Allied prisoners of war. During World War II , the German army invaded the Netherlands on 10 May 1940. Adolf Hitler had hoped to conquer the country in just one day, but his forces met unexpectedly fierce resistance. The Dutch army

2871-487: The Chinese municipality. A five-level library possessing a total floor space of 33,700 square metres, it features floor-to-ceiling terraced bookshelves able to hold 1.2 million books, with a 110-capacity auditorium set in a central sphere. According to Newsweek ’s culture writer, Anna Menta, the library is “breathtaking” and “every book lover’s dream.” This was MVRDV's fastest realised project to date, taking only three years from

2958-712: The European continent and overseas. From Rotterdam, goods are transported by ship, river barge, train or road. In 2007, the Betuweroute , a new fast freight railway from Rotterdam to Germany , was completed. Well-known streets in Rotterdam are the Lijnbaan (the first set of pedestrian streets of the country, opened in 1953), the Hoogstraat, the Coolsingel with the city hall, which was renovated between 2018 and 2021 giving cyclists and pedestrians more space, meaning that car traffic

3045-571: The Jews who were deported via Loods 24 were murdered in Sobibór and Auschwitz-Birkenau . Research in 2000 showed that 144 people survived the deportations. In 2013 the Jewish Children's Monument  [ nl ] was unveiled. In January 1948, Queen Wilhelmina presented the motto 'Sterker door strijd' (Stronger through effort) as part of the coat of arms of Rotterdam to the city government: ...as

3132-775: The Netherlands, China, France, India, the United Kingdom, the United States and other countries, a sustainable office building in Paris, a central business district in Shanghai , an office tower in Poznań , a museum of rock music and a community cultural centre in Roskilde and Frederiksberg respectively, large scale urban masterplans in Oslo , Bordeaux and Caen , an entire new eco-city in Logrono , Spain,

3219-633: The Nieuwe Maas, although recent urban development has extended the centre to parts of southern Rotterdam known as Kop van Zuid ('the Head of South', i.e. the northern part of southern Rotterdam). From its inland core, Rotterdam reaches the North Sea by a swathe of predominantly harbour area. Built mostly behind dikes, large parts of Rotterdam are below sea level. For instance, the Prins Alexander Polder in

3306-672: The River Rotte ' ) is the second-largest city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam . It is in the province of South Holland , part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta , via the "New Meuse" inland shipping channel, dug to connect to the Meuse at first and now to the Rhine . Rotterdam's history goes back to 1270, when a dam was constructed in

3393-789: The Silodam Housing complex in Amsterdam, the Matsudai Cultural Centre in Japan, Unterföhring office campus near Munich, the Lloyd Hotel in Amsterdam, an urban plan and housing in The Hague Ypenburg, the rooftop – housing extension Didden Village in Rotterdam, the cultural Centre De Effenaar in Eindhoven, the boutique shopping building Gyre in Tokyo, part of Veldhoven's Maxima Medical Centre, and

3480-521: The West-Kruiskade, close to Rotterdam Centraal. Religions in Rotterdam (2013) Christianity is the largest religion in Rotterdam, with 36.3% of the population identifying. The second and third largest religions are Islam (13.1%) and Hinduism (3.3%), while about half of the population has no religious affiliation . Since 1795 Rotterdam has hosted the chief congregation of the liberal Protestant brotherhood of Remonstrants . From 1955 it has been

3567-456: The Year, Prix Versailles, International Architecture Award, Architizer A+ Award, and Red Dot Design Award. MVRDV's work has been exhibited in multiple locations including Gallery MA, Tokyo; Het Nieuwe Instituut, Rotterdam; ArchiLib Gallery, Paris;, Kyoto Global Design Awards - Environmental Design category and Architektur Galerie, Berlin. MVRDV's rise to that of a significant force within

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3654-459: The announcement to the realisation of their ideas. Furthermore, the competition is intended to help the participating municipalities and creatives to build up Europe-wide networks. The participants must be under 40 years of age. They can join together to form working groups and make proposals for several locations in parallel. In each country, a national jury will select the winners for the respective locations. Europan offers young European architects

3741-503: The architecture industry has been accompanied by critical voices. The Markthal in Rotterdam , despite winning several awards, did not meet with universal acclaim. Rob Bevan of Architectural Review described it as being part of an overall mistaken preference in Rotterdam for a "stodgy diet of instant icons" and indicative of "noodle-headed re-shaping and architectural gymnastics", the implication being that more modest designs as part of

3828-522: The building will never turn out like the rendering". Furthermore, despite "Valley's" commercial spaces receiving BREEAM "Excellent" certification, the building's energy performance being 30% better than local regulations require, and the residential area scoring 8 out of 10 on the GPR Building Scale, Minkjan nonetheless accuses the office of greenwashing , stating his view that the unrealistic illustration of rooftop gardens and terraces, which ignore

3915-670: The cheap labour segment. The city's unemployment rate is 12%, almost twice the national average. Rotterdam is the largest port in Europe , with the rivers Maas and Rhine providing excellent access to the hinterland upstream reaching to Basel, Switzerland and into France. In 2004 Shanghai took over as the world's busiest container port . In 2006, Rotterdam was the world's seventh largest container port in terms of twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) handled. The port's main activities are petrochemical industries and general cargo handling and transshipment . The harbour functions as an important transit point for bulk materials between

4002-426: The city centre. Rotterdam is diverse, with the demographics differing by neighbourhood. The city centre has a disproportionately high number of single people when compared to other cities, with 70% of the population between the ages of 20 and 40 identifying as single. Those with higher education and higher income live disproportionately in the city centre, as do foreign-born citizens. The municipality of Rotterdam

4089-403: The city's music history is the legendary Kralingen Pop Festival , which took place in Rotterdam in 1970 (featuring, among other, Pink Floyd , Jefferson Airplane , The Byrds , Canned Heat , It's a Beautiful Day , and Santana ). The festival was also made into a film, Stamping Ground (dir. George Sluizer). Alternative (music) culture became prominently present in the city in these days. From

4176-654: The city's past. Other museums include the Tax & Customs Museum , the Netherlands Marine Corps Museum , Rotterdam Public Transport Museum and the Natural History Museum . In 2025 'Fenix, Museum for Migration' will be opened. The first municipal library of Rotterdam was founded in 1604. The current Bibliotheek Rotterdam (Public library), was established in 1869, and is currently the largest cultural organization in Rotterdam, with fifteen branches across

4263-443: The city. The Rotterdam City Archives ( Stadsarchief Rotterdam ) was established in 1857. Here one can find administrative records and sources about the city's historical development. The archival holdings include, among other, general archives, notarial deeds, an audiovisual collection, and a library. Rotterdam has a long tradition of popular music, including the city's Jazz scene before and after WWII. A major historical moment in

4350-707: The city. The Willem de Kooning Academy is Rotterdam's main art school, which is part of the Hogeschool Rotterdam. It is regarded as one of the most prestigious art schools in the Netherlands and the number 1 in Advertising and Copywriting. Part of the Willem de Kooning Academy is the Piet Zwart Institute for postgraduate studies and research in Fine Art, Media Design and Retail Design. The Piet Zwart Institute boasts

4437-517: The clients and architectural associations. The initiative has a network of experts, architects, urban planners and around 250 European cities, who jointly develop and analyse the topics in one large forum held every autumn in a different European city. The aim of the competition is to find innovative and experimental approaches for locations proposed by European cities and to promote dialogue on architecture and urban planning locally and internationally, as well as to support talented young architects from

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4524-530: The common featured between OMA and MVRDV, starting with the positioning of the architect in their draft process, with projects treated as collaborative efforts and the architect acting as a catalyst, An article in El Croquis further argued that "if the notion of creation is still present in their discourse, it is more than a co-creation or synergy between all the parties than as the exclusive vision or synthesis of an architect." The concept of densification - where

4611-417: The company describes as an "independent think-tank and research institute". It is run together with the Delft University of Technology . In a 2010 interview with Designboom , Winy Maas cited Rem Koolhaas as one of the most important people that he had worked with and for, describing parts of MVRDV's work as intellectual responses to Koolhaas's questions. The architect and critic Rafael Moneo has noted

4698-399: The construction of Rotterdam's second underground line interfered with the Rotte's course, its waters have been pumped through a pipe into the Nieuwe Maas via the Boerengat. Between the summers of 2003 and 2008, an artificial beach was created at the Boompjeskade along the Nieuwe Maas, between the Erasmus Bridge and the Willems Bridge. Swimming was not possible, digging pits was limited to

4785-429: The depot displays more than 150,000 works of art and design that the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen previously had no room to exhibit. In addition to the significant amount of storage space required for art and design works, the depot comprises exhibition halls, a rooftop garden, and a restaurant. Nicknamed “The Eye”, the Tianjin Binhai Library is part of the Binhai Cultural Center, and MVRDV's second complered project in

4872-412: The effects of smog, wind, poor soil and changing seasons, deflect attention from the sizeable CO 2 emissions of the building construction. Minkjan's criticism notwithstanding, "Valley" has been positively received, and garden designer Piet Oudolf worked with MVRDV on the building, using around 13,500 plants in 370 planting areas over 27 floors. MVRDV's design of the Marble Arch Mound in London

4959-452: The first sketch to the opening. As of 2023, MVRDV's current projects include: MVRDV has won awards across multiple architectural categories including housing, public buildings, commercial buildings, mixed-used developments, interior design, exterior design, and landscape architecture. Notable accolades include the RIBA House of the Year (Public Vote), European Museum of the Year Jury Prize, Emporis Skyscraper Award, ArchDaily Building of

5046-407: The heart of Western Europe, including the highly industrialized Ruhr . The extensive distribution system including rail, roads, and waterways have earned Rotterdam the nicknames "Gateway to Europe" and "Gateway to the World". The settlement at the lower end of the fen stream Rotte (or Rotta , as it was then known, from rot , "muddy" and a , "water", thus "muddy water") dates from at least

5133-432: The height of the layer of sand , about 50 cm (20 in). Alternatively, people go to the beach of Hook of Holland (which is a Rotterdam district) or one of the beaches in Zeeland : Renesse or the Zuid Hollandse Eilanden: Ouddorp , Oostvoorne . Rotterdam forms the centre of the Rijnmond conurbation, bordering the conurbation surrounding The Hague to the north-west. The two conurbations are close enough to be

5220-427: The iconic Mirador housing estate in Madrid. Recently completed projects include a public library in Spijkenisse , the Netherlands, a shopping center in Schijndel , the Netherlands, a bank headquarters in Oslo , Norway, and most recently a public market hall, combining housing and shopping within the shape of a monumental arch, in Rotterdam . Current projects in progress or on site include various housing projects in

5307-525: The invasion three days earlier. The City Hall survived the bombing. Ossip Zadkine later attempted to capture the event with his statue De Verwoeste Stad ('The Destroyed City'). The statue stands near the Leuvehaven, not far from the Erasmusbrug in the centre of the city, on the north shore of the river Nieuwe Maas. In 1941, 11,000 Jews still lived in Rotterdam. Before the war there were 13,000. Between 30 July 1942, and 22 April 1943, 6,790 people were deported in 8 transports via Loods 24. The vast majority of

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5394-428: The last 50 years of architecture in a blender, and spat it out in building-sized chunks across the skyline, you would probably end up with something that looked a bit like Rotterdam". Rotterdam is divided into a northern and a southern part by the river Nieuwe Maas, connected by (from west to east): the Beneluxtunnel; the Maastunnel ; the Erasmusbrug ; a subway tunnel; the Willemsspoortunnel ('Willems railway tunnel');

5481-402: The main centres of the shipping industry in the Netherlands. From the Rotterdam Chamber of the VOC , the world's first multinational, established in 1602, to the merchant shipping leader Royal Nedlloyd established in 1970, with its corporate headquarters located in the landmark building the 'Willemswerf' in 1988. In 1997, Nedlloyd merged with the British shipping industry leader P&O forming

5568-443: The mid-1990s, with hard beats and samples. Groups like Neophyte and Rotterdam Terror Corps (RTC) started in Rotterdam, playing at clubs like Parkzicht. In the years 2005–2011, the city struggled with keeping venues for pop music; many of them suffered severe financial problems. This resulted in the disappearance of the major music venues Nighttown and WATT and smaller stages such as Waterfront, Exit, and Heidegger. The city today has

5655-667: The next 2 decades, reaching 560,000 by 1985. Although Rotterdam has experienced population growth since then, it has done so at a slower pace than comparable cities in the Netherlands, like Amsterdam, The Hague and Utrecht. Rotterdam consists of 14 submunicipalities: Centrum , Charlois (including Heijplaat), Delfshaven , Feijenoord , Hillegersberg-Schiebroek , Hook of Holland , Hoogvliet , IJsselmonde , Kralingen-Crooswijk , Noord , Overschie , Pernis , and Prins Alexander (the most populous submunicipality with around 85,000 inhabitants). One other area, Rozenburg , does have an official submunicipality status since 18 March 2010. Since

5742-414: The northeast of Rotterdam extends 6 m (20 ft) below sea level, or rather below Normaal Amsterdams Peil (NAP) or 'Amsterdam Ordnance Datum'. The lowest point in the Netherlands (6.76 m (22.2 ft) below NAP) is situated just to the east of Rotterdam, in the municipality of Nieuwerkerk aan den IJssel . The Rotte river no longer joins the Nieuwe Maas directly. Since the early 1980s, when

5829-429: The old environment had to be reshaped. Daring and new styles of apartments , office buildings and recreation facilities resulted in a more ' livable ' city centre with a new skyline. In the 1990s, the Kop van Zuid was built on the south bank of the river as a new business centre. Rotterdam was voted 2015 European City of the Year by the Academy of Urbanism. A profile of Rem Koolhaas in The Guardian begins "If you put

5916-596: The opportunity to make a name for themselves internationally outside the ordinary competition system, with extraordinary designs. This is favoured by the possibility of also working on locations outside the own national border, as well as the great attention that the competition and its publications enjoys in expert circles. Previous award winners include some well-known offices such as Riegler Riewe (Graz, Austria), MVRDV (Netherlands), NL Architects (Netherlands), Njiric & Njiric (Croatia) and nbundm* (Ingolstadt, Munich). Source: Europan Europe website. MVRDV MVRDV

6003-470: The pioneers of the Dutch slave trade ". From the 17th century until 1814, when the United Netherlands abolished the Netherland's involvement in the slave trade at the request of the British government , Dutch slave ships from Rotterdam sailed to Africa and the Americas as part of the triangular trade . Rotterdam merchants also sold significant quantities of gunpowder to Zeeland -based slave ships. The port of Rotterdam grew slowly but steadily into

6090-547: The population density or building density is increased via taller buildings or adding more housing units - is a topic Koolhaas focused heavily on in his book "Delirious New York". Reflection on the notion of densification also comprises a significant part of MVRDV's research, for instance in their publications FARMAX and KM3 , with Maas further noting that "... proximity makes sense. That's a fundamental part of our culture for many of us." In El Croquis, architect Fernando Márquez Cecilia notes that "through these conceptual overlaps,

6177-406: The post-war era, such as Steady! (Van der Horst, 1952), and all kinds of fiction films. Of major importance within this context has also been the International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR), an annual event that lasts more than ten days (end of January, beginning of February), which has been organized since 1972. Besides the IFFR, several smaller film festivals take place in Rotterdam too, such as

6264-575: The projects of the two offices show in some cases even strong formal accordance, as in the case of the VPRO Building and the Educatorium". Maas has also noted that the Club of Rome warnings made in the 1960s over the dangers of global growth, which Maas heard as a ten-year old, contributed to his decision to study landscape architecture and urban planning. This continue to inform his ideas - solutions to what

6351-630: The seat of the Catholic bishop of Rotterdam when the Rotterdam diocese was split from the Haarlem diocese . Since 2010 the city is home to the largest mosque in the Netherlands, the Essalam Mosque  [ nl ] (capacity 1,500). The municipal council consists of 45 members, the largest party is Livable Rotterdam . The municipal executive consists of mayor Carola Schouten and nine elderman, belonging to four parties. Rotterdam has always been one of

6438-522: The services of semi-government companies Roteb (to take care of sanitation , waste management and assorted services) and the Port of Rotterdam Authority (to maintain the Port of Rotterdam ). Both these companies were once municipal bodies; now they are autonomous entities, owned by the city. Being the largest port and one of the largest cities of the country, Rotterdam attracts many people seeking jobs, especially in

6525-790: The south bank of the river. The Witte Huis or White House skyscraper, inspired by American office buildings and built in 1898 in the French Art Nouveau style , is evidence of Rotterdam's rapid growth and success. When completed, it was the tallest office building in Europe, with a height of 45 m (147.64 ft). During World War I , the city was the world's largest spy centre because of Dutch neutrality and its strategic location between Britain, Germany and German-occupied Belgium. Many spies who were arrested and executed in Britain were led by German secret agents operating from Rotterdam. MI6 had its main European office on de Boompjes. From there

6612-707: The south of Rotterdam is Zuidplein, which lies close to Rotterdam Ahoy , an accommodation centre for shows, exhibitions, sporting events, concerts and congresses. Another prominent shopping centre called Alexandrium lies in the east of Rotterdam. It includes a large kitchen and furniture centre. Rotterdam has one major university, the Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR), named after one of the city's famous former inhabitants, Desiderius Erasmus . The Woudestein campus houses (among others) Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University . In Financial Times ' 2005 rankings it placed 29th globally and 7th in Europe. In

6699-455: The status of a submunicipality was lifted on 19 March 2014, it became an integral part of the municipality of Rotterdam. The size of the municipality of Rotterdam is the result of the amalgamation of the following former municipalities, some of which were a submunicipality prior to 19 March 2014: In the Netherlands, Rotterdam has the highest percentage of residents with a recent migration background from non-industrialised nations. They form

6786-635: The think tank also provides an experimental outlook on the urban landscape of the future by exploring imaginary narratives and their interlinked new social contexts . To develop scenarios further, the Why Factory also uses computational design tools for analyzing and generating these concepts. Some of research projects of MVRDV. Rotterdam Rotterdam ( / ˈ r ɒ t ər d æ m / ROT -ər-dam , UK also / ˌ r ɒ t ər ˈ d æ m / ROT -ər- DAM ; Dutch: [ˌrɔtərˈdɑm] ; lit.   ' The Dam on

6873-673: The third largest merchant shipping company in the world. The Anglo-Dutch P&O Nedlloyd was bought by the Danish giant corporation 'AP Moller Maersk ' in 2005 and its Dutch operations are still headquartered in the 'Willemswerf'. Nowadays, well-known companies with headquarters in Rotterdam are consumer goods company Unilever (since 2020 London), asset management firm Robeco , energy company Eneco , dredging company Van Oord , oil company Royal Dutch Shell (since 2021 London ), terminal operator Vopak , commodity trading company Vitol and architecture firm Office for Metropolitan Architecture . It

6960-466: The world in the field of medicine (clinical, pre-clinical & health, 2017). Three Hogescholen (Universities of applied sciences) exist in Rotterdam. These schools award their students a professional Bachelor's degree and postgraduate or Master's degree . The three Hogescholen are Hogeschool Rotterdam , Hogeschool Inholland and Codarts University for the Arts (Codarts hogeschool voor de kunsten),

7047-517: The year 950. Around 1150, large floods in the area ended development, leading to the construction of protective dikes and dams, including Schielands Hoge Zeedijk ("Schieland's High Sea Dike") along the northern banks of the present-day Nieuwe Maas river. A dam on the Rotte was built in the 1260s and was located at the present-day Hoogstraat ("High Street"). On 7 July 1340, Count Willem IV of Holland granted city rights to Rotterdam, which then had

7134-446: The years, this strategy led to the development of an architectural language that helps in explaining design choices to others. The exhibition "Architecture speaks" – The Language of MVRDV was an opportunity for MVRDV to present four conceptual themes to describe their work. The exhibition was shown in the "aut", an architectural centre in the Tyrol region of Innsbruck , Austria and

7221-688: Was European Capital of Culture in 2001. Rotterdam has various cultural institutions. Well-known museums are the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen , Het Nieuwe Instituut , the Wereldmuseum , the Kunsthal , Kunstinstituut Melly and the Maritime Museum Rotterdam . The Historical Museum Rotterdam has changed into Museum Rotterdam , which aims to exhibit the development of Rotterdam as a contemporary transnational city, and not merely

7308-546: Was curated by Natalie de Vries . Winner of the Emporis Skyscraper Award, Valley is a mixed-use, semi-publicly accessible development in the Zuidas business district of Amsterdam. Comprising three towers of heights ranging from 67 to 100 metres tall, it combines offices, shops, catering, cultural facilities, and apartments in one building. Described as “an oasis in a business district dominated by regular office buildings”

7395-454: Was forced to capitulate on 15 May 1940, following the bombing of Rotterdam on 14 May and the threat of bombing other Dutch cities. The heart of Rotterdam was almost completely destroyed by the Luftwaffe . Some 80,000 civilians were made homeless and 900 were killed; a relatively low number since many had fled the city because of the warfare and bombing going on in Rotterdam since the start of

7482-445: Was not well received. Critics named the creation of an artificial hill around and over London's Marble Arch to be pointless, a massive waste of time and material, a pile of rubble, and London's worst attraction. MVRDV acknowledged the poor architectural result but also pointed to Westminster City Council for watering down their design, excluding the studio from overseeing the construction, and ignoring their advice. The Why Factory

7569-688: Was reduced from 4 lanes (2 in each direction) to 2 lanes (1 in each direction). Another mainstreet is the Weena , which runs from the Central Station to the Hofplein (square). A modern shopping venue is the Beurstraverse ("Stock Exchange Traverse"), better known by its informal name ' Koopgoot ' ('Buying/Shopping Gutter', after its subterranean position), which crosses the Coolsingel below street level. The Kruiskade

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