Build that market hall, Rotterdam!

Rotterdam’s new market hall is completely Wow!    An innovative integration of a gigantic multi media signature sculpture, an open air covered market and homes for several hundred Rotterdamers.    

Viewed from a distance across a flat landscape, it may harken back to the Arch of Ctesphon build by the 3rd Century Persians in today’s Iraq.    The video light show on the market roof cum condo floors and walls may well evoke the Crown Fountain in Chicago’s Millennium Plaza, but at spirited new levels.  

Ctesiphon / Creative Commons

Crown Fountain/Antonio Vernon/CC

Watch the new  structure designed byMVRDV Architects.  take form in this remarkable animation posted on Arch Daily earlier this week.  The pictures help us imagine the massive accessibility of this landmark for the heart of pre-war Rotterdam.

Could we even conceive of something like this taking root here?   Today’s Burnside Blog , linked to the slick magazine Portland Spaces suggests “Perhaps Rotterdam is a better city to aspire to than it’s [sic] bigger sister, Amsterdam.”  Indeed.   Build that market, Rotterdam!  We can’t wait to see it.