A New Beginning
Rotterdam doesn’t much resemble any other Dutch city — and that’s precisely its allure. It’s new, daring, avant-garde, and ever in motion. On a day’s visit, I chose to see it in the best possible way I know how: by foot, with a camera in hand, marking a route through a few of the city’s most visible architectural landmarks.
A Spiral Beginning: FENIX Museum of Migration
I started my day in the newly opened FENIX Museum — and lingered longer than I planned. This building, designed by MAD Architects, warrants each passing moment. Its spiral staircase inside, stretching out outside to a panorama rooftop veranda, is not a design element, it’s a visual metaphor for one aspect of this museum’s theme: movement, physical and emotive, associated with migration.
I was so impressed, I wrote a standalone blog post about FENIX. You can see that here.
Vertical Urbanism: De Rotterdam by OMA
Before crossing over the Maas, I made time for De Rotterdam — one of the most ambitious and massive buildings in the Netherlands. Designed by Rem Koolhaas (OMA), this trio of interconnected towers appears to shift as you move past it, a clever manipulation of stacked volumes and vertical rhythm. It’s more than just a mixed-use development; it’s a vertical city block, housing offices, apartments, a hotel, and public spaces — all layered into a single sculptural mass. Standing beside it, you feel dwarfed yet energized. It’s urban density, redefined.
I walked across Erasmus Bridge — Rotterdam’s most photographed sight, and deservedly so. Dubbed “The Swan,” it arched across the Maas like a pulled bow, refined and a touch surreal. The mid-bridge views are among the city’s best and you get an amazing view towards De Rotterdam.
Reflections in Museumpark: The Depot & More
In the Museumpark, I came upon the sleek, bowl-shaped Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen, a mirrored storing facility that mirrors the surrounding skyline like a liquid sculpture. It’s one of those structures that looks different according to weather and luminescence — a photographer’s dream.
A City in Rhythm: Calypso, Pauluskerk & Central Station
As I walked toward the city center, I saw the red-and-white sheen of Will Alsop’s Calypso building — bold, rhythmic in its form. Next to it, literally, is the Pauluskerk, a serene modern haven with a starkly different atmosphere. The contrast — expressive vs. restrained — is exactly why this city is so compelling.
Central Station, by a team of three firms (Benthem Crouwel, MVSA, West 8), is a gateway that feels anything but ordinary. Its sharply angled roof — a bold wedge of stainless steel — reaches out like an arrow toward the city center, offering a dramatic architectural gesture that doubles as wayfinding. But what really surprised me was the material warmth inside. While the exterior is all glass and metal, the interior ceiling is clad in richly toned sustainable wood slats. This use of timber adds a human scale and tactile softness to an otherwise monumental transit hub.
The combination of modern geometry and natural texture makes the station both impressive and welcoming. You feel the pulse of movement — trains arriving, people rushing — but it’s grounded in calm through the choice of material. It’s this kind of balance that defines so much of Rotterdam’s architecture: bold in form, thoughtful in detail.
Layered Futures: Timmerhuis & POST
I came across Timmerhuis, a pixelated mix of glass and steel suspended above restored stone façades, just behind the shopping area. It’s one of OMA’s most recognizable developments in the city and a fantastic case in point for how Rotterdam stretches out into the future without obliterating the past.
Across from it, POST Rotterdam remains a building site—though already looking promising. The new building, designed by ODA Architecture, incorporates a new tower into the historic post office, representing the city’s ongoing tension between old and new.
Inside the Arch: Markthal
Just around the corner, Markthal rises like a contemporary arc de triomphe — a massive horseshoe-shaped building that combines housing, retail, and a vibrant indoor food market. The design by MVRDV is striking not only for its shape, but also for the enormous digital mural covering the interior ceiling — a kaleidoscopic explosion of fruits, flowers, and market scenes known as the “Horn of Plenty.” The contrast between the building’s sleek grey exterior and the riot of color inside is both unexpected and exhilarating. It’s one of the few places where you can buy fresh stroopwafels while standing under a 36,000-square-foot artwork.
From there, I made my way past the Cube Houses (Kubushuizen) by Piet Blom — one of Rotterdam’s most famous and playful architectural experiments. With their sharp angles and tilted forms, they make you feel like you’ve stepped into a geometric puzzle. Whether you find them charming or disorienting, they’re undeniably iconic.
Rotterdam is close-up, walkable, and full of unexpected delights — a city that repays those who wander at leisure. Sharp lines, stunning sweeps, mirrored vistas, or bold city experiments — whatever your taste, you’ll find something here. It’s a spot where one doesn’t merely see architecture, one feels it.
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