MVRDV create towering public staircase to celebrate Rotterdam's reconstruction and revival
by Kim Megson | 07 Apr 2016
Dutch architects MVRDV have announced an eye-catching temporary installation for Rotterdam: a giant staircase leading from the plaza outside the city’s central train station to the top of an adjacent historic building.
Called The Stairs, the 29m (95ft) tall, 57m (187ft) long installation will be open from 16 May to 12 June 2016. It has been commissioned as part of an event called Rotterdam celebrates the city, which marks the 75 years of innovative rebuilding since much of the city was destroyed during World War II.
Visitors will clamber up 180 steps to the summit of the Groot Handelsgebouw, which was one of the first major buildings constructed after the bombing of Rotterdam. A temporary observation deck will provide a view of the entire city and a rooftop cinema called Kriterion, which was popular in the 1960s, will open to screen films and host debates and performances.
The studio said the design of The Stairs follows the Rotterdam tradition of celebrating reconstruction milestones. The scaffolding used in the installation responds to the angles of the contemporary train station, connecting the two buildings and referencing the work that has gone into reviving the city.
“I used to see Rotterdam from the Kriterion after the films there and it gave an fantastic overview of the city,” said Winy Maas, co-founder of MVRDV. “The roof of the Groot Handelsgebouw, one of the best buildings of reconstruction in the Netherlands, deserves to be used as a base for the next intensification of Rotterdam. A second reconstruction.
“The Stairs suggest that, and it would be good to make it a permanent fixture.”
MVRDV the Stairs Rotterdam architecture design reconstruction Winy Maas
The scaffolding used in the installation responds to the angles of the contemporary train station, linking the old and new Credit: Frank van Dam/MVRDV
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Dutch architects MVRDV have announced an eye-catching temporary installation for Rotterdam: a giant staircase leading from the plaza outside the city’s central train station to the top of an adjacent historic building. Called The Stairs, the 29m (95ft) tall, 57m (187ft) long installation will be open from 16 May to 12 June 2016. It has been commissioned as part of an event called Rotterdam celebrates the city, which marks the
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