Gerrie Andela

(Re)constructing Rotterdam

Some 11,000 buildings (17%) were lost in the Rotterdam Blitz. The disastrous event had left the city without a centre.

A first outline for the city's reconstruction was produced within a month's time. The idea was to recreate a "Dutch city", based upon the needs of the time, decorative, often with brick stone and hiding the buildings' structure. This outline was translated into the "Plan Witteveen"

To complete the tabula rasa of the Blitz, all land in the destroyed area was disowned, mostly in exchange for land elsewhere in the centre. This allowed Rotterdam to radically alter the city's street plan. In the new plan, the most valuable land, that for shops and offices, would be in different locations from the old street plan.

When the plan got into more and more supervision issues Witteveen was released from his job. Rotterdam's mighty "harbour barons" enforced a new plan, based upon scientific research and expectations of the future. The plan became less artistic and more flexible. Instead of developing individual buildings, strips of buildings were designed and built. The boulevards became broader and in line with Modernism, a building's structure became more visible. And the plan would go through 18 amendments.

The new centre would loose much of its diversity. Housing was the function most reduced. Every area would get its own function, with the pedestrian strips of shops that is the Lijnbaan as the most famous example. The main influence on the plan's development was economic.

Right after the bombardment temporary buildings were developed along the "fire line" to house shops and restart the economy. The first shops were made of wood, the later ones of ruins. Others built their own temporary shops. Various measures (compensations, rules to restrain outsiders, p.82) were necessary to help shop owners.

Despite the quick redevelopment of the harbour after the end of the War, a shortage of building materials and funding characterised the first six years of peace. Some companies, particularly banks, built their own premises; other companies were often housed in shared office buildings. Many smaller businesses could not afford the construction costs for the allocated land. Other businesses were reluctant to invest in the centre, because it was still mostly barren land.

The reconstruction speeded up in 1952. The Lijnbaan was finished in 1954.

Rotterdam had the reputation of a city following the principles of Congrès Internationaux d'Architecture Moderne and Team X: not necessarily beautiful or agreeable, but with wide roads and high buildings, with the allure of a global city. All the while there were complaints about the supposed monotonous Modernist architecture. Building volume was important and there was little room for experimentation. Pointing at some eye catchers, the authors disagree and point at the number of over 50 architects that were involved in Rotterdam's reconstruction.

The book contains many nice black and white pictures from the 1940's and 1950's. The text consists of various articles that somewhat reduces the coherence of the book.… (más)