bergm550
27 september 2014, 07:59
Bron: NRC (http://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2014/09/27/waarom-het-buitenland-rotterdam-een-must-see-vindt)
Rotterdam is one of the must sees of 2014, The New York Times and the Rough Guide say. BBC correspondent Anna Holligan visited the city for NRC and she totally agrees. Go see Rotterdam.
‘The most modern skyline in the country’
As a foreign correspondent stationed in The Hague, a city that celebrates order and convention, chaotic Rotterdam is a revelation. Perhaps because it feels like familiar territory. I moved to The Hague from Hackney in East London. The area is home to the infamous ‘murder mile’ notorious for gang violence. Today Hackney is experiencing a renaissance – much like Rotterdam. Fashion studios are springing up inside previously forgotten premises, young bespectacled professionals with beards and bikes hang around pop-up shops, dreadlocked kids with mics entertain intrigued Sunday shoppers.
Rotterdam has the shabby chic streets reminiscent of Berlin’s Kreuzberg district. The same graffiitied cafes, artists occupying abandoned dock buildings and unpredictable, dynamic atmosphere. Parks might not be as world renowned as Vondel but this means you can find a place to sit in Summer and cycle without dodging tourists in Autumn. As an infrequent visitor in all of these recently rediscovered spaces you are confronted by the unexpected or unconventional.
As the New York Times notes, ‘Post-World War II reconstruction has changed the face of one of Europe’s largest ports, where striking, cubed architecture gives shape to the most modern skyline in the country.’
Less pretence and pressure
In some areas it looks as though ten architects were given simultaneous planning permission and all began building with little regard for continuity. But the fact this kind of unconventional construction can coexist is part of the charm. And offers a metaphorical insight into the cultural composition of the Netherlands second city.
The relatively large Antillian, Surinam and Moroccan population is reflected in the shops and restaurants scattered around the city. There is an indulgence in diversity here that, in my experience doesn’t exist to the same extent anywhere else in the country. Rotterdam is considered by some to be a poor relation. It does not attempt to compete with the allure of Amsterdam, or try to tempt tourists away from the pretty cobbled streets of Leiden. Rotterdamers seem happy to let Haarlem steal the historians’ spotlight. Perhaps partly because of this relaxed attitude, it feels as though there is less pretence or pressure to conform inside this ever-changing cityscape.
http://www.nrc.nl/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/ANP-282571321.jpg
http://www.nrc.nl/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/markthal20140923_4791_435792.jpg
Rotterdam is one of the must sees of 2014, The New York Times and the Rough Guide say. BBC correspondent Anna Holligan visited the city for NRC and she totally agrees. Go see Rotterdam.
‘The most modern skyline in the country’
As a foreign correspondent stationed in The Hague, a city that celebrates order and convention, chaotic Rotterdam is a revelation. Perhaps because it feels like familiar territory. I moved to The Hague from Hackney in East London. The area is home to the infamous ‘murder mile’ notorious for gang violence. Today Hackney is experiencing a renaissance – much like Rotterdam. Fashion studios are springing up inside previously forgotten premises, young bespectacled professionals with beards and bikes hang around pop-up shops, dreadlocked kids with mics entertain intrigued Sunday shoppers.
Rotterdam has the shabby chic streets reminiscent of Berlin’s Kreuzberg district. The same graffiitied cafes, artists occupying abandoned dock buildings and unpredictable, dynamic atmosphere. Parks might not be as world renowned as Vondel but this means you can find a place to sit in Summer and cycle without dodging tourists in Autumn. As an infrequent visitor in all of these recently rediscovered spaces you are confronted by the unexpected or unconventional.
As the New York Times notes, ‘Post-World War II reconstruction has changed the face of one of Europe’s largest ports, where striking, cubed architecture gives shape to the most modern skyline in the country.’
Less pretence and pressure
In some areas it looks as though ten architects were given simultaneous planning permission and all began building with little regard for continuity. But the fact this kind of unconventional construction can coexist is part of the charm. And offers a metaphorical insight into the cultural composition of the Netherlands second city.
The relatively large Antillian, Surinam and Moroccan population is reflected in the shops and restaurants scattered around the city. There is an indulgence in diversity here that, in my experience doesn’t exist to the same extent anywhere else in the country. Rotterdam is considered by some to be a poor relation. It does not attempt to compete with the allure of Amsterdam, or try to tempt tourists away from the pretty cobbled streets of Leiden. Rotterdamers seem happy to let Haarlem steal the historians’ spotlight. Perhaps partly because of this relaxed attitude, it feels as though there is less pretence or pressure to conform inside this ever-changing cityscape.
http://www.nrc.nl/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/ANP-282571321.jpg
http://www.nrc.nl/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/markthal20140923_4791_435792.jpg