De Rotterdam , a massive column design by Rotterdam darling Rem Koolhaas , has opened . It is the urban center ’s largest building — a slight bit of Manhattan , in Rotterdam . It ’s also , in an odd way , a protection to the original World Trade Center .
The analogy you ’re expire to hear again and again about this building is Lego : It ’s a 450 - foot - tall skyscraper that looks like heap blocks , each cantilevered just somewhat off the one below it . Inside , there are office , apartments , and a hotel — relieve oneself up a mixed - use tower that would be more at home near OMA ’s Asia office .
But De Rotterdam is n’t an ode to Lego or to Asian urbanism . It ’s an ode to Manhattan — a urban center Koolhaas has been possess by since he was an computer architecture student . In fact , according to The Guardian ’s Oliver Wainright , whogot a tour from the man himself , the building will anchor a $ 450 million programme to turn the Rotterdam neighborhood into a “ Manhattan on the Maas , ” despite the fact that the city ’s live office towers are already mostly empty .
As Wainright points out , this tugboat is Koolhaas ’ swan song to New York — and more specifically , to the original World Trade Center . Take a look at the cover of the 1997 book that launch him to celebrity — Delirious New York : A retro Manifesto for Manhattan — and you ’ll see the long , slender lather of the WTC .
On De Rotterdam , you ’ll find the same long fret , spaced at similar intervals . Except here , the mass of the WTC has been sliced into merriment - sized blocks and rearrange , slightly off - kelter , into a patched - together memory of the older building . At Nox , the building ’s long glass dot shimmer .
Whatever the cost , however many years it take to build , and despite the dubious demand for more office space in the urban center , it ’s a beautiful building . It ’s odd to mean that , in a fashion , the most fitting architectural testimonial to the WTC is n’t even in New York . [ Bustler ]
Images by Ossip van Duivenbode .
Architecture
Daily Newsletter
Get the best technical school , skill , and culture news in your inbox daily .
News from the future , delivered to your present .
Please take your desire newssheet and pass on your email to upgrade your inbox .
You May Also Like
