Monday, January 30, 2012

Netherlands Field Trip January 2012: Day 3 - Rotterdam

Tuesday 24 January 2012

We arrived in Rotterdam at 10am for a presentation about the Central Station Project and Urban Planning in Rotterdam. This was followed by a coach tour of Rotterdam and a guided tour of the Central Station Project. British architect, Will Alsop, has been commissioned to develop a master plan for the restructuring of the area surrounding Rotterdam Central Station - 20 hectares in the city centre including the station itself. The Masterplan Rotterdam Centraal was presented in April 2001 and development is due to be completed in 2018. There is lots of information about this on the web - have a look at these links:

West 8
All Design
Vakbladgeotechniek

Our tour of the Rotterdam docks - near the famous Holland Amerika Line building:

Tour of Rotterdam Docks - photo by George Blumberg

We moved on to visit the Maeslant Storm Surge Barrier. As the Netherlands is located in a low-lying delta the history of the country has been determined by the struggle against water. The Maeslant Storm Surge Barrier is a moveable barrier which, together with a series of dikes, guarantees the safety of South Holland. For more information have a look at the Deltawerken website and also the following video of the barrier:


Back in Amsterdam we found ING House which looked like some kind of massive metal insect. It was designed by Meyer en Van Schooten Architechten - find out more about the building on the MVSA website. 

ING House by fychu
ING House - photo by Fychu via Flickr


The end of day 3!

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