Amsterdam may be the star attraction, but Rotterdam’s bold design and layered history make it a must-see too. Photo / Unsplash
Amsterdam may be the star attraction, but Rotterdam’s bold design and layered history make it a must-see too. Photo / Unsplash
If you’re planning a holiday to Amsterdam, add Rotterdam to the mix to get a taste of the Netherlands’ old and new, writes Chaitali Patel.
Amsterdam and Rotterdam, the country’s largest and second-largest cities, have a distinct personality, giving travellers a diverse experience of Dutch city life. If Amsterdam drawsvisitors with its canal-lined city centre and bohemian spirit, Rotterdam entices with its constantly evolving skyline and multicultural vibe.
Does that mean that Rotterdam is a new city? Not really. Rotterdam’s city centre was almost completely destroyed in World War II, and rather than rebuild what the city looked like before, city planners embraced change. The result is a city with a voracious appetite for envelope-pushing design. Most visitors get a taste of this as they arrive at the Centraal Station. To truly appreciate its design, exit and turn around to take in the structure from a distance. The roof over the entrance is an arresting sweep of metal and glass and references the River Meuse that cuts through the city.
If Rotterdam Centraal looks sharp and edgy, Piet Blom’s sunflower yellow Cube Houses in Oude Haven will leave you twisting and turning as you try to figure out how one lives in them. The maverick Dutch architect’s experimental housing cluster grabbed international attention when it opened in 1984. Right across, the Markthal is an eye-catching, hoof-shaped building with a cornucopia of food stalls and vendors within. It looks best after nightfall when the lights come on and its interiors spring to life with giant colourful fruits, flowers and vegetables. The building enclosing the market area has apartments and offices.
Like Amsterdam’s Museumplein or museum quarter, most of Rotterdam’s museums are located in the periphery of its Museumpark. Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen’s striking mirrored exterior is a changing canvas, reflecting the different moods of the city throughout the day. Shaped like a giant bowl, the depot is a storage house with 155,000 artworks. Here you can see how art is stored and catalogued, details that are otherwise hidden from public view. Its flat rooftop forest offers panoramic views of the city, and the onsite restaurant, Renilde, is one of Rotterdam’s most sought-after dining venues.
Also in Museumpark, the Kunsthal Rotterdam, designed by master architect Rem Koolhaas, keeps things interesting with over 3300sq m of exhibition space that plays host to a rotating programme. From design, photography, fashion, to pop culture, expect the unexpected here.
Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen. Photo / Unsplash
And this is true for the city itself. A few know that Rotterdam was home to continental Europe’s first Chinatown. On a map, Rotterdam sits in one corner of Europe, but its strategic location on the mouth of the Rhine-Mause-Scheldt delta makes it an important port. The Dutch were astute traders and brave seamen, and as trade flourished, so did Rotterdam’s fortunes, and it developed into Europe’s largest seaport. Along with goods came people from all parts of the world. After World War I, Chinese seafarers and labourers arrived in large numbers and settled in the Katendrecht neighbourhood. Today, a quiet residential quarter, there are signs like Tattoo Bob, the only surviving tattoo shop from the 1950s and the unique Verhalenhuis Kaap Belvedere, a story centre showcasing stories from locals and communities throughout history.
Rotterdam city with The Witte Huis (White House) and Willemsbrug bridge. Photo / 123RF
Some of these stories can be seen at the Fenix, Rotterdam’s newest museum. Perched on the water’s edge in Katendrecht, the Fenix stands out, crowned with a shiny spiral of steel called the Tornado. In a highly fragmented world where movement across borders is getting tougher and tighter, the museum housed in a former warehouse, turns the spotlight on the timelessness of migration through art, photographs and personal objects.
Across the quay, Hotel New York – the former headquarters of the Holland-America Line and one of the rare buildings to have survived the bombings – is a poignant reminder of Rotterdam’s role as an entry and exit point to Europe. Millions left on its ships for America and Canada in search of a better life. The SS Rotterdam, one of its flagship vessels docked at Maashaven, offers a peek into this chapter of Rotterdam’s history through beautifully restored salons and engine rooms.
The trans-Atlantic liners may have gone, but cargo ships, cruise vessels, and the smaller but lightning-fast water taxis, which are a fun and quick way to get around, crowd the River Nieuwe Maas. Watching over all this movement, the towering Erasmus Bridge, known as “the swan”, stands guard gracefully connecting the northern and southern parts of Rotterdam. It’s a fitting icon of a city that has seen the worst of times and is clearly now basking in the best of them.
