Previously, we've seen the indoor marketplace in Rotterdam, the Markthal. Well right next
to it outdoors is a huge open market – happens twice a week on Tuesdays and Saturdays. And
next to the market is one of the most innovative of the modern buildings of Rotterdam, the
Cube Houses, which connect directly with the Old Harbor and we're going to show you all
of these fascinating sites in this segment on Rotterdam.
From Google Earth we get a nice overview of the neighborhood with the Old Harbor, the
Cube Houses, there is the Markthal, there is a train station and the open market and
beyond, we see the tall skyscrapers of modern downtown Rotterdam.
This Blaak rail station has convenient access by metro or commuter train, but you can easily
walk to this neighborhood from downtown in 10 to 15 minutes.
The market is huge, anywhere from 400 to 500 booths set up on a regular basis on Tuesdays
and Saturdays, making it the country's largest outdoor market, with the usual expected wide
range of things here. There is food, there is clothing, jewelry, junk, hardware, all
sorts of things. Although it's called the black market or they'd
say Blaak Markt, it's not a place to purchase stolen goods. Everything here is very legitimate
and most of it is new, along with the usual fleamarket assortment of secondhand goods.
It's a popular shopping place for locals as well, who pick up a lot of their fresh produce
here, this and you can buy lunch at a price that's going to be lower than your typical
restaurant. Because it gets so crowded it makes a great
place for people-watching, with customers of all ages and national origin in this cosmopolitan
city. Open from 9 to 5 Tuesdays and Saturdays. If
you want to avoid the crowd get here early or come at the end of the afternoon. It will
be worthwhile no matter when you can make it.
Next to it alongside the Markthal is a very popular outdoor public park, especially when
you're here on a Saturday and families can gather together, workers have the day off,
and it's just a holiday atmosphere, with the medieval Church of St. Lawrence in the background.
In the other direction, the white building is the Rotterdam Central Library, one of the
city's best architectural curiosities. A six-story cascading façade with industrial design and
angular yellow tubes makes it one of the most controversial buildings in the city. It contains
half a million books in open stacks and one of the biggest record libraries in Europe.
It's a multipurpose structure with a theater, a bookstore, there's Internet terraces on
the first and top floors, and lecture halls and there's a café that sometimes has live
music. (Music plays)
Adjacent, the blaak Tower design by Piet Blom, who also designed the Cube Houses next door,
which is where we're going next. These cubes are actually apartments that people
live in. Each is tipped up on a point, tilted at a crazy angle of about 45°. Inside, the
floors are horizontal and yet the walls are all at an angle. It's efficient, using very
little ground area while creating living space up above in a striking design.
From Google Earth we can see how it's located on a bridge straddling eight lanes of a busy
highway, another aspect of how it's efficiently using space that might have been otherwise
unoccupied. It also serves as a pedestrian bridge to help
you get across the road, and yes it's open free to the public. You're welcome to come
on in, walk through, have a look around. There are some exhibits in one of the houses, you
can pay a few euros if you want to go inside, but otherwise it's splendid from the outside.
Or you could rent a room. There are some vacation rentals, a little hotel operation and a youth
hostel, and a few shops, along with the condominiums of the permanent residence, some of whom have
lived here since it first opened 30 years ago.
Constructed out of wood, the architect Piet Blom envisioned each unit as a tree and altogether
functioning like a forest. There are 40 apartments here, each with about
1000 ft.² of floor area, but only 1/4 of that space is actually usable because of all
the sharp angles of the walls, and it's generally squeezed up into three floors with narrow
staircases connecting them. That's the price one pays for living inside
a most unusual work of art. It's in a great location between those markets
and the Old Harbor, which is a picturesque part of Rotterdam that harkens back to the
old days, unlike most of this modern city. From the cubes you can walk right down a gentle
ramp that will lead you to this lovely restaurant terrace area right along the water's edge.
You can see what a popular place this is for eating and drinking, easy to reach from the
cubes, but curiously from the street, there's only a small sign. You might even miss the
entrance. You have to know where you're going to get down here to the water. The harbor
is bordered by buildings with the restaurants and terraces so there is no expansive view
from the street, but there are some openings and you'll find it.
Then you can walk along a nice promenade on the edge of the harbor. Walk around to the
other side and get some great views looking back at the cubes and the terrace restaurants.
The transformation of this neighborhood from an old neglected part of town into one of
the most vibrant and popular places to be for eating, drinking, meet up with your friends
and make some new ones, is a fine example of how urban planning and development by the
enlightened city government is taking very good care of its population and visitors.
Recreational boating is always popular in the Netherlands and there are some commercial
tours of the harbor on larger boats that we will show you in a different video.
People live on these old barges in the harbor in a slightly unconventional lifestyle, living
afloat in boats that do have the comforts of home and offer enhanced mobility. You can
pick up and go whenever you want. While these boats do have a tourist appeal, they're not
open to the public. It is a private neighborhood, a community of people living on the barges,
but if you say hello and wave you might get a friendly response.
Rotterdam has the largest harbor in Europe, but this particular portion is the oldest
part of that. It was built way back in the 14th century. It features a harbor museum
with some historic ships on display and a small shipyard where they're renovated.
The red bridge was first opened in 1878 and completely renovated back in 1981. It's the
Willem's bRidge, with a total span of 318 meters.
The 10-story building with that château roof has got quite an interesting story, because
it was Europe's first skyscraper 43 meters tall. It opened in 1898. Called the White
House, it is one of the few old buildings to have survived the German bombardments of
1940 in World War II. It's a national monument, also on the UNESCO World Heritage list.
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