Rotterdam may have lost many of its historic buildings to the bombings of WW2, but its strategic location, multiculturalism, and vibrant port have since transformed this old Dutch city into a modern hotbed for cutting edge architecture and design. With contemporary structures popping up left and right, there is certainly no shortage of inspiration here, but if there is one design that's slated to change the face of this port city, it's the Rotterdam Market Hall. Designed by MVRDV, and currently under construction, the new market hall will be a towering 100,000 sq meter tunnel-shaped structure that fuses a bustling green market with residences, shopping, restaurants and more. We recently spoke to the hall's project leader, MVRDV architect Anton Wubben, about the landmark design. Read ahead for some of Anton's insight on the project, as he discusses everything from the flexible suspended glass facades to what inspired the shape of the building.
Anton: After my architecture studies in Delft, I worked for one year as a freelance researcher at the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency. During this more analytic period of work I decided to finally move to the field of architecture. MVRDV was on the top of my list of offices to work at, and one interview and five days later I was working on my first deadline. At that time, the market hall was in the competition phase. I got interested in the project and joined the team in the next phase. During the process my role changed to project leader.
Anton: Rotterdam is a very active and highly ambitious city with lots of new things happening. This always inspires people to be creative themselves and believe that they can make things happen.
Anton: It started with the competition design that we submitted together with our client, Provast. The competition was held by the city. Not only did they make the decision to let our team build this project, but they are one of the investors of the project as they are the owners of the parking garage.
Anton: The building is located at one of the biggest open squares of the Netherlands, which is surrounded by big massive buildings like the library and the Sint-Laurens church. We wanted to add another impressive volume to this palette.
The original masterplan showed two rows of apartments, with the space in between covered by a low roof. We imagined taking away this roof and “bending” the apartments over the market space would make more sense. It would create a fantastic space underneath the apartments and the two functions would be combined and work in synergy. The apartments have windows looking down to the market, making them special compared to standard apartments.
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