Rotterdam the layered city, stories, architecture 'Wave upon wave'

Put in two days in Rotterdam or more. The city, bombed in 1940, has since been rebuilt in layers, each revealing a story, a place, a building to discover. Starting with Rotterdam Centraal station, an elegant wooden and steel bastion, which immediately suggests a walk to the Museum Park. The heart of the museum park is Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen, the world's first publicly accessible art depository, located next to the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen. In Depot there are 174 years of collecting, more than 154,000 objects housed and arranged in fourteen storage compartments with five different climates; next to the objects works explain the many and varied activities involved in preserving and managing such a complex collection. Rotterdam is made up of about 23% water surfaces, an absolute must to visit RiF010 Urban Surfing Rotterdam, an intense experience that gives visitors the chance to experience urban surfing in the middle of the city centre. Wave heights can be adjusted to create ideal conditions for professionals and beginners alike.

RiF010 - Rotterdam (Adrienne Wildeman)

The Keilehaven Tidal Park, located within the M4H neighbourhood, creates a balance between cultural park elements and spontaneous natural processes; a magical project that transforms the river into a 'tidal park' and improves the central green public space by enhancing and making the Delta more dynamic and attractive. In addition, the city of Rotterdam is implementing new green spaces to enable every citizen to reach a public green space from their home in less than fifteen minutes on foot. Prominent among these airy green spaces is Hofbogenpark, a two-kilometre-long rooftop park that makes use of the roof of a monumental railway viaduct and creates 6,200 m2 of new green space with a circular water system: the first phase will be completed in 2026. The space is designed not only for humans but also for animals; it aims to increase biodiversity with the introduction of small wild animals and amphibians that have the possibility of reaching the park from special entrances intended for them and can move around safely. A paradise that will see 57,000 trees and plants revolutionise the urban landscape.

The most pleasant, healthy and just residential building in the Country Steps is impossible not to notice. Commissioned by Nice Developers & Era Contour, Mei architects and planners, it is built entirely of CLT (cross-laminated timber), 50 metres high material that minimises the use of concrete. Unique in its kind, it champions "shared values" such as reducing CO2, enhancing biodiversity and creating a circular building with affordable housing for an inclusive community. It is already noticeable in the distance by its appearance with green terraces that enhance the neighbourhood's biodiversity.

Portlantis Centro Esperienza Portuale

Portlantis is an exhibition space and visitor centre for the Port of Rotterdam; it consists of a stack of five rotated exhibition spaces and will open in 2025. The Nederlands Fotomuseum (Dutch Museum of Photography) changes location and moves into a completely renovated historic former warehouse, an architectural feat that can house over six million photographs.

Fenix- il tetto (Frank-Hanswijk)

There is great anticipation for Fenix, the major new museum inspired by stories of global migration, which examines the theme of migration through the lens of contemporary art with works by renowned artists including Steve McQueen, Grayson Perry and Rineke Dijkstra, scheduled to open in 2025. "The windscreen is bigger than the rear-view mirror. It's about looking forwards, not backwards'. That is the motto, the dream of Rotterdam.