Sunday June 10 2012
I was right -
yesterday was just a weird day for Rotterdam.
Today was much different. First
off, it was sunny the whole day which I definitely took advantage of. I woke up decently early. I slept pretty well for having to room with
two strangers, two younger Asian women who were very nice and respectful. For breakfast - which was amazing for a
hostel breakfast - a variety of meats, cheese, breads and rolls, yogurt and
granola, etc. I ate a lot and took two
apples for the road.
I headed out a little
ways out of the city center to Rotterdam-Zuid.
On the way I spotted the Café d'Unie by J.J.P Oud; a good example of
Dutch De Stijl. My first real stop was
Kiefhoek, a working-class housing development in the Bloemhof neighborhood,
designed in 1928 by Oud. It is a quite
interesting canonical modern project, treating the exterior street as though it
were another room, as set forth by Berlage.
In the same neighborhood, behind the Kiefhoek complex, is a really nice
small waterway, where I sat and did some writing and soaking up the sun's rays
before continuing on my journey.
Not far from Kiefhoek
is Katendrecht, a peninsula piece of land with a lot of contemporary housing
projects and a port. I saw Claus en
Kaan's Laankwartier which reminds me of his small rowhouse in Amsterdam, as
well as several single family homes that reminded me of Borneo or IJburg, and
2nd Katendrechtse haven housing with amazing views on the river Maas. The views were so amazing that I had to sit
for a moment and take it all in.
After that I continued
on across a small bridge to get to Kop van Zuid / Wilhelminaplein. This place is happening. I don't understand it completely, but it's
supposed to represent the trade between America and NL, so there are various US
city themes here. Talk about amazing
views to the river as well! You can see
a close view of the Erasmus bridge with all of the contemporary buildings
surrounding it. As you cross the little
bridge you're greeted by Mecanoo's Montevideo housing, Bolles/Wilson's tiny bar
and café, and the large World Port Center by Norman Foster. There's also Las Palmas, a building that was
originally a warehouse/workshop by Ven den Broek and Bakema from the 1950s,
then reconstructed for the Holland-America lime complex, and a tower by Alvaro
Siza. Closer to the Erasmus bridge there
is Renzo Piano's KPN tower, which reminds me of a design-development project
some students in my class did, and then a really interesting building called
New Luxor (Nieuwe Luxor) by Bolles/Wilson.
When I had done my
adequate architectural observations, I couldn't help but lounge out in the sun
and look out on the water. One thing I
appreciate greatly about all the cities in Holland that I've visited is that they
all have ample seating/benches incorporated in appropriate areas. I guess that's because of the sheer amount of
people who walk these cities, as opposed to America. Though even Boston or New York, where lots of
people walk, have very few areas to sit and rest. Just a pet peeve of mine, as I am a proud
pedestrian. Anyway, I was so relaxed
that I even fell asleep for what must have been awhile, because after I got
back to the hostel I realized that I got a pretty decent sunburn. The embarrassing part is that it is only on
half my face, while the other half was resting on the ground. I feel like the phantom of the opera. Okay, maybe not that bad.
I had some delicious
wok-to-go stirfry for dinner. I've
decided most Dutch food just does not appeal to me, so I've been trying all of
the international cuisine that is prevalent here. Tomorrow is supposed to rain all day, but
since it is a Monday and all of the museums are closed on Mondays, I can't even
revert to my usual standby. I'm sure
I'll figure out something to do.
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