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The Daily Telegraph {Cruise Style}
Keyword:
Rotterdam
UK Saturday 15, March 2014 19 769 sq. cm ABC 530246 Daily page rate £46,000.00, scc rate £214.00 020 7931 2000
ASHORE CRUISE STYLE
Designs on Rotterdam With blooming bulbfields around the corner, Holland’s second largest city is the place to be in spring, says David Atkinson Rotterdam is one of Europe’s biggest port cities, last year handling some 76,000 cruise passengers. Many simply board buses and head into Amsterdam, but in recent years Rotterdam’s newly refurbished cruise terminal has enjoyed something of a renaissance. Waterside districts such as the up-and-coming Wilhelminaplein on the south bank of the River Maas, a mere five-minute walk from the terminal, are breathing new life into formerly derelict harbour areas. The recently opened nhow Rotterdam hotel (nhow-rotterdam.com) is the gleaming centrepiece of the Wilhelminaplein regeneration. Sailing into Rotterdam, past the new, reclaimed port area in the North Sea and the city of Schiedam, offers a fresh perspective on its modernist architecture. Largely destroyed by German bombing raids in the Second World War, Rotterdam was rebuilt in the stark Nieuwe Bouwen style popular during the post-war years.
» MAKING A STATEMENT
Since it opened in January, the dockland area’s new, skyline-defining building De Rotterdam (derotterdam.nl/en) has divided opinion. Comprising three glazed towers, it was designed by local architectural champion Rem Koolhaas as a statement on Rotterdam’s ambition. The nhow Rotterdam hotel occupies the first 23 floors and showcases artworks on white-brick walls by local artists such as Joep van Lieshout. Illuminated views across the Erasmus Bridge to the city centre are its crowning glory. To learn more about Rotterdam’s modernist architecture, book a two-hour walking tour with Rotterdam ArchiGuides
(rotterdam-archiguides.nl/en) by bike or on foot. One option explores the architecture of the Kop van Zuid area, of which Wilhelminaplein forms a part.
IN PURSUIT OF CULTURE » There are plenty of cultural diversions
around Wilhelminaplein, even for day visitors. Catch a matinee at the New Luxor Theatre (luxortheater.nl), a striking cylindrical building opposite the metro station, or a screening at Lantaren Venster (lantarenvenster.nl), an arthouse cinema and lively jazz venue. The Holland America Line ships that set sail for the New World during the golden era of transatlantic travel may have had their glory days, but the cruise line’s former warehouse, the Fiftiesbuilt Las Palmas building opposite the cruise terminal, has been saved from dereliction to reopen as a cultural hub. Event space LP2 (lp2.nl) currently houses small-scale productions by Rotterdam theatre companies and a temporary exhibition by Rotterdam Museum. Next door, the Netherlands Fotomusuem (nederlandsfotomuseum.nl) stages regular exhibitions — this spring it is showing works by Viviane Sassen (until June 1) and Carleton E Watkins (March 29-June 9). Particularly worthwhile is the Darkroom Collection, which tells the story of Dutch photography via hands-on exhibits.
GOLDEN YEARS » After exploring Wilhelminaplein, head
to Hotel New York (hotelnewyork.nl), one of the few buildings to survive the Second World War bombings. Its harbour-view restaurant makes a good lunch spot (sample local favourites such
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