The UFO of Rotterdam

Now hidden behind anonymous looking skyscrapers, the ‘bouwcentrum’, with its nickname the UFO, was once the futuristic beacon of Rotterdam. A plea for a forgotten building.

Rotterdam is well known for its modern architecture. The cube houses by Piet Blom and the Kunsthal museum by Rem Koolhaas are only a few of the architectural highlights of this city. Once, however, we were just another old Dutch town with cute narrow streets, filled with old fashioned houses from the 1800s.
Then we got bombed in World War II and had nothing.

The centre of the city was as barren as a waste ground. Besides the railway station, the municipality were quick to let one architectonical flower bloom in the centre: in 1949 The UFO by J.W.C. Boks was a fact.

The UFO in 1949, Photographer unknown.

The idea behind this remarkable looking building was to represent the future of the city and it would be used as such. It was open to the inhabitants of Rotterdam and showed the plans for the restructuring of the city. Besides that, it had space for several exhibitions. ‘New technologies for the modern housewife’ was one of them.

And as the rebuilding of the city centre went on, the sky scrapers were erected and the need for an information centre for the inhabitants got less. The UFO was lost from the sight and out of the collective mind. The municipality sold it to a large housing company. Luckily, it’s still open to visitors and inhabitants alike. Whoever comes in, will get a quick and friendly tour, given by the concierge. With its sixteen sided shape and more than thousand glass tiles in the ceiling, the building still holds its futuristic promise and is definitely still worth a visit.

Teaserbild by Rob de Voogd/zzapback.nl