Rotterdam’s harbour revival continues with a future-facing images museum

RHWZ Architekten and native adaptive-reuse champion WDJ Architecten thought rigorously concerning the Brede Hilledijk, a avenue operating parallel to the waterfront towards the museum. ‘Between the robust facades of the monumental Pakhuis Santos warehouse and the energy of a revitalised Katendrecht, the new entrance to the Fotomuseum is right on the border between past and future,’ says WDJA architect Karin Wolf.

This threshold between previous and new is emphasised within the vertical transformation of the Grade A-listed constructing. The two-storey rooftop extension, holding a restaurant and short-stay residences, crowns the unique Beaux Arts warehouse, whereas the unique cast-iron column grid, preserved throughout the six historic storeys, proved vital to creating the conversion to a museum. Floor beams and floorboards within the coronary heart of the constructing have been eliminated to create a central atrium carving via the as soon as enclosed warehouse, flooding the inside with daylight. ‘By transforming a robust industrial structure into an open, spatially layered environment,’ says Wolf, ‘the building mirrors the museum’s function as a spot the place photographs should not solely preserved however repeatedly reread, reframed and skilled from new views.’

The design revolves across the museum’s assortment of 6.5 million pictures — one of many world’s largest photographic archives — displayed in climate-controlled glass models. Similar to the spectacular Boijmans Depot within the centre of city, the constructing permits guests to look at the ateliers preserving fragile glass negatives and daguerreotypes, and conservators cataloguing the archives of 175 photographers.

The sense of transparency and openness extends to the programming too. The ground-floor ‘living room for photography’ is open to all, implying a shift in how these establishments could be navigated. Visitors can use the library and darkroom with out paying admission.

‘The concept of a shared domestic space is central to creating an environment that is democratic and participatory,’ says Grace Wong-Si-Kwie, the museum’s head of presentation and public outreach. ‘We want people to encounter photography not just as a historical record but equally as a living, evolving medium.’

On their technique to the inaugural exhibitions, guests will first go via the previous loading dock, now an entrance marked by a lenticular nameplate set up. ‘The name Nederlands Fotomuseum appears and disappears like memories on a negative,’ says Wolf. ‘It’s not a static emblem however a visible sport that catches and displays mild, playfully referencing the world of images itself.’

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