The continuous ramp
You walk the whole building almost stairless.
Wikifrits — Public domain · Guilhem Vellut from Annecy, France — CC BY 2.0 · Guilhem Vellut from Annecy, France — CC BY 2.0 · Guilhem Vellut from Annecy, France — CC BY 2.0
A museum without a collection: the Kunsthal (1992) was designed by Rem Koolhaas, Rotterdam's most famous architect, as an "art hall" rather than a museum — meaning it owns nothing permanently, and everything in it is temporary: about twenty-five exhibitions a year ranging across classical painting, photography, design, fashion and street culture. The building is among Koolhaas's best-known early works and one of the Netherlands' most important contemporary structures: a continuous ramp cuts through it from bottom to top so you walk the galleries almost without stairs, with glass walls, raw concrete and tree trunks as columns — an architectural argument about circulation and transparency. It stands at the edge of the Museum Park between the Boijmans museum and the natural history museum, on green lawn facing the road — so a visit folds naturally into a half day in the museum quarter. Check what is showing before you go: the place changes completely every few months.
You walk the whole building almost stairless.
Boijmans and the natural history museum steps away.
Westzeedijk 341, Rotterdam
Park SchoonoordA small English landscape-style park beside Het Park in Rotterdam, laid out in t3 minutes walk4.8
Depot Boijmans Van BeuningenA giant mirror bowl amid the Museumpark — the world's first fully open art depot5 minutes walk4.5
The Tax and Customs MuseumThe Tax and Customs Museum occupies a villa on the Parklaan in Rotterdam, and it5 minutes walk4.1
The Chabot MuseumThe Chabot Museum stands in Rotterdam's Museumpark and combines two things each 5 minutes walk4.0
Het Nieuwe InstituutHet Nieuwe Instituut is the national institution for architecture, design and di6 minutes walk3.7The Kunsthal's site lists current and upcoming shows in English; it usually runs three to five exhibitions in parallel, so a visit rarely disappoints.