Kunsthal

Rem Koolhaas / OMA – The Kunsthal, Rotterdam, Holland, 1987-1992

The Kunsthal combines 3300 square meters of exhibition space, an auditorium and a restaurant in a compact design. Sloping floor plans and a series of well-organized ramps provide a seamless connection between the three large exhibition halls and two intimate galleries. Its location, wedged between a busy highway and the network of museums and green spaces known as the Museum Park, allows it to function as a gateway to Rotterdam’s most valuable cultural amenities.

The program called for three large exhibition spaces, to be used together or separately, an auditorium and an independently accessible restaurant.

The site presents a dual condition: the southern edge is bounded by the Maasboulevard, a highway on top of a dike. The northern side, a lower level, faces the Museum Park – conventional contemplation. The building was conceived as a square crossed by two paths: one, a road running east/west, parallel to the Maasboulevard; the other, a public ramp extending the north/south axis of the Museum Park.

The pedestrian ramp is divided, with a glass wall separating the outside, which is open to the public, from the inside, which is part of the circuit. A second ramp, running parallel and inverted, is terraced to accommodate an auditorium and below it the restaurant. At the level where the two ramps intersect, the main entrance is defined. From there the visitor enters a second ramp that descends towards the park and up to the dikelevel.

Approaching the first hall, one encounters a staircase and an obstructed view, which is gradually revealed – a landscape of tree columns with a backdrop of greenery framed, and sometimes distorted, by the different types of glass of the park façade. From there one follows the internal ramp to Pavilion 2, a large open space overlooking the avenue. A third ramp along a roof garden leads to a more intimate single-height hall and further on to the roof terrace.