More modern architecture

Extension to the Timmerhuis by R Koolhaas (OMA), 2015

An afternoon of modern architecture, most of which I had already seen without fully appreciating. In Rotterdam it is mixed use: shops, offices and apartments above to ensure that the city centre remains residential as well as commercial.

The Timmerhuis extension, for example. It houses the Rotterdam Museum, local government offices and apartments. Having had its seeming weightlessness pointed out to me, I was ready to see it. (My previous impression had been, “oh, another glass box”.) Without admitting that they looked like clouds, I could admire their transparency. Indeed, the visible supports look inadequate – but they obviously aren’t.

Markthal, MVDRV, 2014

The Markthal has the same appearance of transparency, and I enjoy the playfulness (if not the reality) of the Cube Houses. It was good to see that, on a sunny day, the area was busy with an enormous market and ordinary Rotterdammers in addition to us tourists. But what I really liked was my trip in the giant ferris wheel: