Een Blok Stad Rotterdam (NL)

Authors

  • Olv Klijn TU Delft, Architecture and the Built Environment

Abstract

The idea behind the project Een Blok Stad (A Block of City) was conceived ten years ago when a nineteenth-century city block located between the Zwaerdecroonstraat and the Snellinckstraat that was owned by housing association Woonstad Rotterdam was nominated to be demolished. The residents of the block vehemently opposed the housing association’s new construction plans and succeeded in turning the tide. The buildings were in a poor state: there were severe foundation problems, fungi grew from floors and beams and there were even trees growing in the dwellings that had been unoccupied for some time. Because the low rental income the block generated made a thorough renovation financially unappealing, Woonstad Rotterdam decided to sell the block to developer and builder ERA Contour.

The block had 48 properties comprising 140 dwellings. The buildings each consisted of five layers, including a basement and an attic. Originally, each building consisted of a two-storey ground-floor dwelling, a single-storey dwelling in the middle and an attic dwelling that occupied half of the attic. The other half of the attic was used for storage.

Author Biography

Olv Klijn, TU Delft, Architecture and the Built Environment

Olv Klijn is Assistant Professor at Delft University of Technology and founder and partner of FABRICations. Klijn studied architecture at Eindhoven University of Technology and graduated Cum Laude. Klijn has written articles for various architecture magazines, including de Architect, and worked as a junior architect for OMA in Rotterdam. Klijn is (co) author of various books such as VMX Agenda, 10 x Den Bosch, Station Centraal, Architect by accident and The making of ... After founding FABRICations in 2007 with Eric Frijters, he has been involved in the design and research of architecture, urban design and regional strategies. In 2010, FABRICations won the first prize in the Prix de Rome Architecture.  In 2011, Klijn was recognized as one of the 40 emerging European architects under the age of 40. A year later he was nominated for the Iakov Chernikhov International Architecture Prize.

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Published

2018-06-01

How to Cite

Klijn, O. (2018). Een Blok Stad Rotterdam (NL). DASH | Delft Architectural Studies on Housing, 9(14), 114–121. Retrieved from https://journals.open.tudelft.nl/dash/article/view/5076