OMA completes De Rotterdam
"vertical city" complex



Grandilocuencia urbanística en la "ciudad vertical" de Rotterdam

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Grandilocuencia urbanística en la "ciudad vertical" de Rotterdam

(EFE) – hace 14 horas

La Haya, 24 nov (EFE).- La ciudad de Rotterdam cuenta con un nuevo icono urbanístico, firmado por el arquitecto holandés Rem Koolhaas y su oficina OMA, que alberga una auténtica "ciudad vertical" de dimensiones sobrecogedoras y atrevimiento arquitectónico.

Su silueta, que combina aspectos geométricos con elementos asimétricos, está distribuida sobre una base de 30 metros de altura sobre la que se alzan tres torres de 150 metros de alto entrelazadas entre sí.

Sus 230.000 toneladas de peso, 160.000 metros cuadrados de espacio interior y su fachada de cristal en la que se han empleado más de 50.000 metros cuadrados de ese material, le confiere un aspecto imponente y transparente a la vez que compite en protagonismo con otros rascacielos del renovado distrito Sur de la ciudad portuaria.

Las medidas, erigidas a orillas del río Mosa sobre una superficie equivalente a un campo de fútbol, convierten al bautizado como "De Rotterdam" en un reto arquitectónico que a primera vista parecería imposible de realizar.

El nombre del "De Rotterdam" es una reminiscencia de la época más portuaria de la orilla sur del Mosa, haciendo referencia a uno de los barcos de la compañía de transportes Holland América Line.

Fundada a finales del siglo XIX, esa empresa, hoy en manos norteamericanas especializadas en cruceros, llevó a oleadas de emigrantes europeos a hacia el otro lado del océano, con Nueva York como último destino.

La reciente inauguración de la "urbe vertical" de Koolhaas ha sido posible gracias al esfuerzo de más de 4.500 personas que han estado implicadas en el diseño y las obras, que han durado cuatro años.

Aunque no abrirá sus puertas hasta principios de 2014, ya cuenta con un 85 por ciento de ocupación de sus 240 apartamentos -de compra y alquiler- y sus 60.000 metros cuadrados de oficinas.

Como toda ciudad que se precie, en su interior no faltará un hotel de cuatro estrellas con 285 habitaciones de la cadena española NH, que estará dedicado al arte y el diseño holandés.

Junto con la eficiencia espacial y la transparencia, la última creación de Koolhaas estima otro de los principios de nuestro tiempo: el respeto al medioambiente de la sostenibilidad energética.

El que aspira a ser uno de los edificios más ecológicos de Holanda, utiliza energía proveniente de paneles solares y turbinas eólicas, así como el agua del río para los sistemas de refrigeracíón y calefacción.

Las más de 5.000 personas que se espera pululen diariamente por el edificio, de 44 pisos, tendrán a través de las paredes exteriores de cristal una vista frontal del centro de la ciudad con el río de antesala, el puente Erasmo a la derecha, y obras de altitud física y arquitectónica firmadas por estudios como Mecanoo o el británico Norman Foster a su alrededor.

Desde la construcción del puente Erasmo en 1996, el distrito Sur de la ciudad que alberga el puerto más grande de Europa ha cambiado su carácter desencajado por la renovación, por el prestigio que han ido otorgando esas edificaciones de renombre.

De lejos la ciudad más moderna de Holanda, Rotterdam se expande así con el mismo espíritu de reconstrucción con el que tuvo que renacer tras la II Guerra Mundial, cuando las bombas destrozaron la ciudad casi por completo.

Koolhaas (Rotterdam, 1944) es un punto de referencia tanto en la ciudad que le vio nacer como a escala internacional, al ser el autor, entre otras obras, del Centro de Arte (Kunsthal) de Rotterdam, el innovador Campus McCormick en Chicago y más recientemente la sede de la Televisión Central en China. Maite Rodal

Movie: in this exclusive interview, Rem Koolhaas tells Dezeen why the colossal new De Rotterdam tower is the most visible OMA skyscraper yet. "Nobody will be able to avoid" seeing it, he says.

OMA completes De Rotterdam "vertical city" complex

Located on the south bank of Rotterdam's Maas river, De Rotterdam is a 150-metre structure where overlapping glazed towers accommodate apartments, offices and a hotel. It is only the fourth high-rise that OMA has completed, even though the firm has developed designs for dozens over the years.

"This is on a site where nobody will be able to avoid seeing the entire building," says Koolhaas, comparing the project with the Rothschild Bank Headquarters in London and CCTV Headquarters in Beijing, both of which are located within a dense cityscape. "It has a superb location on the river that can be only approached on one bridge, so we could really predict how it will be perceived," he said.

OMA originally looked at designing two buildings on separate plots. The architect explains that he wanted to avoid "planting needles" so instead came up with a concept for a single structure with large vertical openings that break up the overall mass.

"We made a building that consists of separate volumes that were slightly shifted vis-a-vis each other so that it was very adaptable," says Koolhaas. "We could easily replace one part with another part and therefore accommodate different logics and arguments."

"This shifting creates a large building, but a large building that is a very dynamic presence in the city, because it is very different from any angle. It can be a wall, it can be almost three separate buildings, it can be a single mass," he adds.

The building officially completed yesterday. Tenants including the municipality of Rotterdam are expected to move in over the next year.

Rem Koolhaas at the launch of De Rotterdam

Images of De Rotterdam are courtesy of the Netherlands Board of Tourism & Conventions.

News: architect Rem Koolhaas' studio OMA has completed its colossal "vertical city" in Rotterdam, the

OMA completes De Rotterdam building — Photograph by Michel van de Kar

OMA designed the giant De Rotterdam complex for its home city, where the building sits on the south bank of the Maas river.

The 44-storey interconnected glass towers span a width of over a hundred metres and remain roughly the same floor area for the entirety of the building's 150-metre height.

"We made a building that consists of separate volumes that were slightly shifted vis-a-vis each other so that it was very adaptable," Rem Koolhaas told Dezeen during a tour of the building today.
De Rotterdam by OMA

"We could easily replace one part with another part and therefore accommodate different logics and arguments," he added. "This shifting creates a large building, but a large building that is a very dynamic presence in the city."

Overlapping blocks form the three towers that all share a plinth, in which lobbies and public spaces are located.

These blocks contain separate office spaces, residential apartments, hotel and conference facilities, restaurants and cafes. Workers and residents share the conference, sport and restaurant facilities.

The building is named after one of the ships that transported Dutch immigrants to America from 1873 to the 1970s.

Rem Koolhaas recently accepted an award for the best tall building of the year for the CCTV Headquarters in Beijing, ten years after declaring he wanted to "kill the skyscraper".

Here's some information from OMA:

De Rotterdam
OMA today marks the completion of De Rotterdam, a mixed-use, 160,000-metre-square slab-tower conceived as a "vertical city" on the river Maas.

Ellen van Loon: "Efficiency has been a central design parameter from day one. The extreme market forces at play throughout the course of the project, far from being a design constraint, have in fact reinforced our original concept. The result is a dense, vibrant building for the city."

With the building's completion, a critical mass has been established on the Kop van Zuid, realising the long-established vision of a second city centre south of the Maas. The building is named after one of the original ships on the Holland America Line, which from 1873 to the late 1970s transported thousands of emigrating Europeans bound for New York from the Wilhelmina Pier, next to which De Rotterdam is situated.

The three stacked and interconnecting towers of De Rotterdam rise 44 floors to a height of 150 meters and span a width of over 100 meters. Nevertheless, the building is exceptionally compact, with a mix of programs organised into distinct but overlapping blocks of commercial office space, residential apartments, hotel and conference facilities, restaurants and cafes.

Office employees, residents and hotel guests are brought together in conference, sport and restaurant facilities. The building's shared plinth is the location of the lobbies to each of the towers, creating a pedestrianised public hub by means of a common hall.

Rem Koolhaas: "Despite its scale and apparent solidity, the building's shifted blocks create a constantly changing appearance, different from every part of the city. The fact that it stands today represents a small triumph of persistence for the city, the developer, the contractor and the architects."

Section of OMA completes De Rotterdam building — Perspective atrium section - click for larger image

The various phases of design and construction were supervised by partners-in-charge Rem Koolhaas, Ellen van Loon and Reinier de Graaf, and associate-in-charge Kees van Casteren. De Rotterdam is developed by MAB Development and OVG Real Estate.

Project: A mixed-use vertical city
Status: Commission 1997, groundbreaking December 2009, completion November 2013
Clients: De Rotterdam CV, The Hague (Joint venture MAB, The Hague / OVG, Rotterdam)
Location: Rotterdam, Netherlands
Site: Former harbour waterfront between KPN tower and Cruise Terminal at Kop van Zuid
Program: Total 162,000m2: offices 72,000m2; 240 apartments 34,5000m2; hotel (278 rooms) / congress / restaurant 19,000m2; retail / F&B 1,000m2; leisure 4,500m2; parking (approx. 650 vehicles) 31,000m2