Seventy years face to face
The 2014 station opposite the 1953 wholesale building.
Frans Berkelaar — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Trougnouf (Benoit Brummer) — CC BY 4.0 · Smiley.toerist — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Steven Lek — CC BY-SA 4.0
The square in front of Rotterdam Centraal, the first thing an arriving visitor sees, designed together with the new station that opened in 2014 as an architectural statement rather than merely an entrance. The station itself is the event. Its metal roof slopes and juts at a sharp angle pointing towards the city centre, and the front is clad in stainless steel that reflects light and sky. The design is deliberately directional: the shape tells you where to enter and which way to go without signs. Behind the square stands the Groothandelsgebouw, the enormous wholesale trade building of 1953, among the first structures of Rotterdam's post-bombing reconstruction. The new station facing it puts seventy years of Dutch architecture face to face in a single space. That is what distinguishes Rotterdam: the city reads as a continuous architectural exhibition because everything in it was built after 1940, and each period left its layer visible. Practical points: a public square, always open and free. The best time to look at the facade is before sunset when light reflects off the steel.
The 2014 station opposite the 1953 wholesale building.
Each period left its layer visible — the city is a continuous exhibition.
The best look is before sunset, when light plays on the facade.
In front of Rotterdam Centraal station
The Delftse Poort TowerAn office skyscraper beside Rotterdam Centraal station, completed in 1991, and f1 min walk
Miniworld RotterdamAll Holland at 1:87 under one roof: the Benelux's largest indoor miniature world5 min walk
The Louis Davids MonumentA memorial in Rotterdam to Louis Davids, the Dutch comic actor and singer born i10 min walk
Kunstinstituut MellyKunstinstituut Melly is a contemporary art space on the Witte de Withstraat in R12 min walk
Het Nieuwe InstituutHet Nieuwe Instituut is the national institution for architecture, design and di12 min walkStart here, walk south to the Cube Houses and the Blaak library, then to the Markthal with its painted ceiling, cross the Erasmus Bridge to the south bank for the modern towers, and finish at the Depot Boijmans with its mirrored facade. A circuit of about three hours covering eighty years of architecture.
You will pass through anyway if you arrive by train. Stop for a couple of minutes and turn to look at the facade from the square rather than crossing it in a hurry — this is among Europe's best modern stations, and most people pass through without seeing it.
Sign in to write your review of this place.
No reviews yet — be the first.