Rotterdam is remarkably clean: the Dutch even wash the outside brickwork of their houses.




Mary Shelley.





Rotterdam is well known for its busy port, however in the last few decades it also has become a byword for architectural innovation and experimentalism which is best exemplified by buildings like Koolhaas' Kunsthal and Bloms' Cube House. Yet this was made possible only by the terrible destruction wrought by the Nazi bombs in 1940. After the war the pragmatic Rotterdamers opted for reinvention instead of reconstruction, but despite all that the city does not lack old stuff - theres loads of that in Delfshaven as well as in the elegant residential districts to the west of the city centre. But I came for the modern stuff and even though the weather was absolutely horrible, with constant rain and strong winds, I enjoyed Rotterdam nonetheless, it is perfect for walking and theres no shortage of drinking and eating places of which I made quite an extensive use.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotterdam



1. The elegant Erasmus Bridge across the Nieuwe Maas, designed by Ben van Berkel and built in 1996.



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3. Rotterdam is still a busy port, in fact its Europes busiest and until 2004 was Worlds busiest too, so the river is filled with ships.



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5. Delfshaven, now a suburb of Rotterdam but until 1886 it was a town in its own right. It was founded by the people from the city of Delft (as the name implies) to avoid tolls being levied by Rotterdam.



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9. Regentessebrug, a rather grand bridge built in 1898.




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10. Rotterdam is filled with fantastic buildings, here we have Shipping and Transport College, designed by Neutelings Riedijk Architects, surrouned by warehouse conversions.



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11. The weather was absolutely terrible, so I spent a few hours in The Euromast sipping tea and just watching the city.



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23. Montevideo tower, all 140 metres of it.




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24. The 165 metres tall Maastoren.



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25. Netherlands Architecture Institute, I wanted to go there, but it was.....er not open.....



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26. The Art-Nouveau Witte Huis built in 1898, it was tallest building in Europe when built. Willemsbrug can be seen in the background.



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27. Cube House designed by architect Piet Blom in 1984.



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29. Inside one of the flats in the Cube House.



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30. Minimalist corridor in the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen.




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34. The Red Apple, 124 metres.



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35. De Brug, the new HQ of Unilever Netherlands. Apparently the steel and glass bit is a pre-fab.



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