Rotterdam Archives - Where to Kim?

3 cafes for the ultimate holiday feeling west of Rotterdam: outdoors and corona proof

Kim — Wed, 19 Aug 2020 14:00:00 +0000

Three cafes with an excellent outdoor terrace for the ultimate holiday feeling. These are my 3 favorite (corona proof) spots west of Rotterdam, Netherlands.

They’re great in summer and even more so in a summer with corona. There are many cozy and trendy cafes in Rotterdam, but what you’re looking for right now is a table with lots of personal space. The three cafes and restaurants in this post are somewhat remote, of the beaten path so to say, but that makes them perfect for a situation like this.

1) Bij de buurvrouw @ Maasland

Bij de buurvrouw (“at the neighbor’s”) is the perfect stop for cyclists and hikers. It is located on the road between Maasland and Schipluiden, west of Rotterdam and south of Delft. From the outdoor terrace, you can see many cyclists while you enjoy a drink with a home-made tart or lunch.

For those of you who like tea: they serve all kinds of white, green, black, and herbal tea, both from loose leaves and tea bags. Their home-made tarts are delicious!

This is also a great area for a walk in nature. You don’t have to go far to leave the ‘big road’ behind and find yourself surrounded by farmland, streams, and beautiful houses. Nearby you can visit Museum De Beeldenkas, a greenhouse filled with mosaic sculptures and paintings.

As pictures say more than a thousand words, here are some more pictures.

Opening hours and location

Thursday – Sunday: 10:00 – 17:00 (May – September)
Thursday – Saturday: 10:00 – 17:00 (October – April)

Location: Oostgaag 18a, 3155 CG Maasland, Netherlands

2) Op Hodenpijl @ Schipluiden

An organic restaurant with a small shop selling organic food and drinks. There is a beautiful chapel adjacent to the restaurant where you can often visit exhibitions and music events.

But let’s focus on the outside. At the grass field behind the building, there are many tables with plenty of personal space for everyone. Here they serve breakfast, lunch, and dinner, but you can also have a drink with something sweet or small bites. The tea selection is smaller than Bij de buurvrouw, but instead, you have a bigger selection of food.

When you visit Op Hodenpijl, you can also explore the greenhouses and vegetable gardens at the Buitenplaats on the other side of the road.

Check out my post about a past exhibition for some pictures of the chapel.

Opening hours and location

Tuesday – Sunday 10:00 – 22:00 (Sunday until 17:00)

Location: Rijksstraatweg 20/22, 2636 AX Schipluiden, Netherlands

Also read: Tea drinking culture in the Netherlands

3) Buitenplaats @ Vlaardingen

A pop-up terrace in the orchard of a farmhouse where you can have a drink with Liege waffles with strawberries. The Buitenplaats is ideal for a relaxing morning or afternoon, I mean, just look at the seats! A visit to this cafe feels like you’re camping in nature. During your visit, you can also explore the survival area (for kids or company team-building events) behind the terrace.

Nearby you can take a walk in the forest and around the lake called the ‘Krabbeplas’ in Vlaardingen. Perfect for a stroll before or after your visit to this cafe.

Opening hours and location

10:00 – 17:00 but only when the weather is good

Location: Zuidbuurt 85, 3132 KA Vlaardingen, Netherlands

The post 3 cafes for the ultimate holiday feeling west of Rotterdam: outdoors and corona proof appeared first on Where to Kim?.

Electric cars and artworks at the Boijmans Ahoy drive-thru museum in Rotterdam

Kim — Wed, 05 Aug 2020 14:00:00 +0000

The Boijmans van Beuningen museum drive-thru for electric cars brings out your inner explorer. You can watch art from the safety of your electric car at Ahoy Rotterdam.

A private experience

Nowadays, visiting a museum is becoming a more private experience than ever before. With museums limiting the number of visitors per hour or giving out time-slots to comply with the corona measures, you no longer have to stick your head out to obtain an unobscured view of artworks. The museum drive-thru, a collaboration between Boijmans van Beuningen and Ahoy Rotterdam, takes this to the next level. This temporary exhibition is their answer to the 1.5-meter social-distancing rule in the Netherlands.

Electric car

For three weeks, starting 1 August 2020, you can see a special exhibition consisting of more than fifty artworks from the safety of your own car (very corona proof!). You and your party will experience a semi-private museum tour. Don’t worry if you don’t own an electric or hybrid car or have a driver’s license: you can either borrow an electric car at the location or watch the exhibition from a promenade.

The venue

Hall 1 of the Ahoy Rotterdam has been turned into one big museum. Visitors drive by the artworks on display at a walking pace. Art is all around you, at eye level and also high above. The hall itself is dark, with the headlights of the cars illuminating the area. It feels like you’re exploring unknown territory, with beautiful objects wherever you look. If you want to take a longer look at one of the artworks, you can temporarily park wherever you like.

As Museum Boijmans van Beuningen will be closed for many more years because of a major renovation, the museum is showing its collection at other locations in the area. This one is a keeper!

The art

Inside the museum, you can see a mix of paintings, sculptures, videos, and installations. The exhibition contains both world-famous works from the collection of Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen and installations by contemporary artists. These works highlight the unpredictable and fickle nature of human existence. When inside, you can read more about the artworks by looking at the floorplan online.

Trees are very prominent in many of the works on display. You, the visitor, are part of the exhibition as you drive through the ‘forest’ of art, watching both the artworks and the other visitors that drive around in their own cars. The biggest work of art is perhaps the swarm of electric cars driving around like a crib mobile.

My experience

This is the first time I visited a museum drive-thru and I really liked it. While the pieces on display didn’t interest me overly much – I guess I like different art – I enjoyed exploring the hall. Often I simply parked my car somewhere to watch other people drive around and watch art. It’s fascinating.

When you enter the hall through the dark tunnel with arrows, you get the feeling you’re in an amusement park. For a second I felt disoriented when I suddenly saw a work of art and then the brake lights of the car in front of me, blocking me halfway my turn in the dark. But then you enter the big hallway and take your first look at this whole new world that is yours to explore.

At first, I followed the cars in front of me, driving at a walking pace along the wall on the right. This is like being in a traffic jam: something you need to escape quickly. You can always come back to this spot later. Soon after I took the ‘left lane’ and just drove to the artworks that caught my eye, sometimes parking right in front of an object so I could watch the work of art through my windscreen and at other times favoring the right or left window to optimize the view for either my passenger or myself. This was also when I started watching the videos as if I was at a drive-in cinema.

The fact that you’re able to choose your own path gives such a feeling of freedom. While there are many other cars – not too many, the number of cars is just right – they don’t hinder your experience because there are many nooks inside the venue. Sometimes you have to wait a little bit when another car is blocking your view, but when that car moves you get to experience the artwork in private.

I also like the environmentally-friendly concept of allowing electric cars only (I happen to have one so I brought my own!). With the unease the coronavirus causes in many people, this feels like a very safe way to still go out and watch art. If you’re in the Netherlands, I can recommend a visit!

Practical information

When

1 August 2020 – 23 August 2020

The drive-thru is open daily from 10:00 until 21:00. You can reserve a 30-minute time slot online.

Tickets

You can buy tickets on the website of Boijmans van Beuningen.

For the drive-thru

Adults: 14.50 EUR (with Rotterdampas: 7 EUR)

Children (3-12): 7.25 EUR (with Rotterdampas: 2 EUR)

There are two options for the drive-thru: with your own electric or hybrid car or with a borrowed BMW Mini Cooper.

Promenade

If you only want to watch from the promenade, without driving through the hall, you can buy a promenade ticket for 7.50 EUR. From the promenade, you can watch the cars and artworks from the side. You also have access to the food truck and the test area for electric cars.

I wouldn’t advise watching from the promenade, as the exhibition is all about the drive-thru.

Location

Ahoy Rotterdam: Ahoyweg 10, Rotterdam, the Netherlands

By car

You can park your car for free at P1 at the venue. You can exchange your parking ticket for a pre-paid one at the white tent near the food truck. This is also where you can get your BMW Mini Cooper.

If you want to explore the exhibition with your own car, you also have to go to the white tent to sign a liability waiver. When it is time to enter the exhibition, you pick up your car at the P1 parking lot and drive towards the entrance of the hall.

By public transport

Take subway line D or E from Rotterdam Centraal to the Zuidplein stop. From there, it is a six minutes’ walk to the entrance of the Ahoy Rotterdam.

The post Electric cars and artworks at the Boijmans Ahoy drive-thru museum in Rotterdam appeared first on Where to Kim?.

A robot’s view on traveling – Part 6: Rotterdam

Kim — Fri, 10 Apr 2020 14:00:00 +0000

Join this traveling robot on his adventures. He thinks he has seen it all, but has he really?

Part 6: Rotterdam

“A wandering fool, that’s me. Yesterday I experienced a setback and today I can’t seem to think straight. BOINK. It went like that. I had almost finalized my plans to go on a city trip to Madrid, but then real life happened. Travel restrictions, banned destinations, the world on lock-down?

So now I am wandering the streets of Rotterdam, both admiring the architecture and laughing out loud at some of the building designs. It is interesting to see what humans can come up with when you let them. We would never suggest such impractical designs. I’d maximize living space and functionality instead of eye candy. I mean, beauty is so very subjective, how would I ever make something that appeals to all humans. It is however possible to make it the best building ever from a usage perspective.

I understand that many residents of Rotterdam prefer low rising buildings so they can still see the sky. Why they want to see the sky in the grey gloomy winters is beyond me, but I will accept the wishes of people with stronger feelings about this matter than me. They should see the space inside my head…

Around the Blaak subway station, they built the Cube Houses, Market Hall, Blaak Tower and Central Library of Rotterdam. I rest my case. I can’t be the only one who mentally tries to fit all these buildings inside a Cube Puzzle. Rotate the Market Hall and throw all the Cube Houses inside. Turn the Blaak Tower upside down and use it as a stake to ground the Market Hall.

Flood the Blaak Square and the Central Library will simply float off like a ship set free. It can then dock next to the Erasmusbrug and eventually sail back and forth to New York with Hotel New York as its home base. It can alternate trips with the new Boijmans van Beuningen Spaceship annex Depot when it gets launched in 2021.

My spirit still hurts from the plans that will never be. No day trips to Toledo or Salamanca, no extra museum visits. As soon as I wipe the plans from my memory the burden will be gone. But I can’t let go yet. I’ll keep dreaming a little bit longer, at least until the day I was supposed to fly there. When I look at the rainy weather outside I will hide in the sunny corner of my mind called Madrid. There I will wander and wander until Boijmans van Beuningen 2021 beams me up.

Together we will visit Mars.”

The post A robot’s view on traveling – Part 6: Rotterdam appeared first on Where to Kim?.

Visit the old harbor of Vlaardingen just west of Rotterdam

Kim — Wed, 08 Apr 2020 14:00:00 +0000

A historical city center and old harbor lined with old warehouses and other historical buildings. Visit Vlaardingen in the Netherlands if you’re looking for a break from the big city.

Let me start this post by managing expectations: if you’re looking for a vibrant shopping area or want to watch art, then this is not the place to go. Vlaardingen city center only comes to life on the market days: Wednesday and Saturday. Everything is closed on Sundays unless it is the first Sunday of the month, then some shops are open.

Because of the lack of customers and high rent shops don’t last long in the city center and many stores are empty. It’s a vicious circle: without interesting shops, people won’t come and without people, there won’t be interesting shops. I’m not saying there are no interesting shops, just that their sudden presence and disappearance sometimes surprises me.

Having said that, why should you visit Vlaardingen? Because the area around the old harbor is really beautiful. Here you can see the city’s long history of fishery and imagine what it must have been like to live centuries ago. The historical buildings are well preserved and now used as residences or offices. Some old warehouses are boarded up (hopefully to get a new purpose in the future) but still show the sheer size of the former fishing industry. I’ll tell you more about the places you can’t miss below.

The other reason to visit Vlaardingen is because of the access it gives you to nature. West of Vlaardingen you have the ‘Krabbeplas’ recreation area, which is ideal for a short walk or cycling. Northwest of Vlaardingen you have the ‘Broekpolder’, a vast nature and recreation area where you can spend hours walking or cycling.

Hiking in the Netherlands is very unlike hiking in other countries because everything is flat. What you can see on your hikes that you can’t see in mountainous areas are the extensive wetlands and polders with dikes keeping the water in check. It’s a different type of nature.

Things to see in Vlaardingen

Westhavenkade and Oosthavenkade

The ‘Westhavenkade’ (‘West Harbor Quay’) and Oosthavenkade (‘East Harbor Quay’) surround the old harbor of Vlaardingen. At the quays, many small ships are docked giving the area a colorful and bright look. The monumental buildings in these streets are well preserved. From the Pr. Julianabrug you can take the best pictures.

A special mention for the following monuments.

Hollandiagebouw (‘Hollandia building’)

On the eastern quay, you can see the former office of the dairy concern Hollandia. The Hollandiagebouw was designed by architect Pleun van der Berg in a neo-renaissance style and built in two phases in 1897 and 1912. On the front, you can see the two Latin phrases: Labor improbus omnia vincit (Hard work defeats everything) and Nil sine magno labore (Nothing without great effort).

Location: Oosthavenkade 42, 3134 NW Vlaardingen

Visbank

The Visbank (literally ‘Fish bank’) on the western quay was built in 1778 and functioned as a fish market. The weather vane on top of the building is shaped like a herring; the symbol for Vlaardingen. At the fish market, all fresh fish was auctioned until 1949. It now houses an ice cream parlor that sells very good ice cream.

Around the Visbank you can find many cafes/pubs.

Location: Westhavenplaats 37, 3131 BT Vlaardingen

Museum Vlaardingen

A museum showing Vlaardingen’s history, most of which is related to fishery and the battle of Vlaardingen. Most of the museum is in Dutch only but there is plenty to see that doesn’t need a description. Plus the architecture of the building is rather interesting.

Location: Westhavenkade 54, 3131 AG Vlaardingen

Opening hours: Tuesday – Saturday: 10:00 – 17:00; Sunday and some holidays: 12:00 – 17:00.

Tickets are 7.50 EUR for adults. Admission is free for kids and visitors with a Museumkaart, Rotterdampas, Rembrandtpas or ICOM.

Wilhelminahaven

Warehouse Doggermaatschappij

At the Wilhelminahaven you can find the old warehouse of the shipping company A. Hoogendijk. This building was unfortunately destroyed by fire in 2019 and is now boarded up. The view of the harbor still looks good though.

Location: W83X+9M Vlaardingen

Pelmolen

A former grain warehouse turned into residences.

Location: W82W+QX Vlaardingen

Schiedamseweg and Oostbuurt

At the Schiedamseweg you can see many beautiful monumental villas. Just walk along the street to gaze at the buildings with names like Francina and IJzermans. In the neighborhood on the left and right (Oostbuurt) you can see many nice-looking streets but this time with tiny houses. Walk around in the area before heading to the Big Church.

Villa IJzermans

This villa was built in 1883 for the shipowner A.H.C.M.J. IJzermans from which it takes its name. IJzermans used the tower on top of the building to watch ships come in.

Location: Schiedamseweg 53A, 3134 BB Vlaardingen

Stadsgehoorzaal

I don’t know about you but I can’t shake the feeling something went wrong with the design of this theatre building. It looked much better before!

Location: Schiedamseweg 51, 3134 BB Vlaardingen

Around the church

At the historical city center of Vlaardingen, you can see the beautiful historical buildings that surround the church.

Location: Markt 63, 3131 CR Vlaardingen

City Hall

Opposite the entrance to the church, you can take a picture of the old city hall. This building is a popular photo spot for newlywed couples.

Location: Markt 11, 3131 CR Vlaardingen

Aeolus mill

A still-active mill designated as a monumental building. Inside you can buy pre-made mixes for many types of bread, cake and cookies.

Location: Kortedijk 16, 3134 HB Vlaardingen

Buizengat

The houses around the Buizengat were built recently and resemble a modern variant of the historical patrician houses and warehouses around the old harbor of Vlaardingen.

Location: W88W+4Q Vlaardingen

The church on the picture above represents the ‘Sky’ element.

Earth, Water, Fire and Air

The cemetery, water tower, old fire-brigade barracks and church symbolize earth, water, fire and sky. The words (in Dutch: Aarde, Water, Vuur, Hemel) are written on the buildings and because of that, you can spot them from a distance.

You have seen the Big Church before and assuming you don’t want to visit the cemetery that leaves the barracks and the water tower. I’m hoping they’ll refurbish the barracks one day to give them a new purpose just like they did with the water tower.

Location ‘Aarde’ (Earth): Emaus 6, 3135 JC Vlaardingen

Location ‘Hemel’ (Sky): Hoogstraat 26, 3131 BN Vlaardingen

Location ‘Vuur’ (Fire): Hoflaan 13, 3134 AA Vlaardingen

Location ‘Water’: Van Linden van Den Heuvellweg 2B, 3134 AE Vlaardingen

Watertoren (‘water tower’)

The water tower was built in 1955 and originally served as a water reservoir. Nowadays you can find a restaurant and bed & breakfast inside.

Location: Van Linden van Den Heuvellweg 2B, 3134 AE Vlaardingen

Nature in Vlaardingen

Broekpolder

The Broekpolder is a vast nature and recreation area where you can spend hours walking or cycling. This area is also home to a herd of highland cattle and many types of birds. The pictures above show only a few of its many sights, as you can also walk in a forest or explore the grasslands.

This is my go-to place when I want to go for a walk. From the city center of Vlaardingen, you can reach the Broekpolder within thirty minutes on foot!

Location: W8GF+HM Vlaardingen

Krabbeplas

The Krabbeplas recreation area is ideal for a short walk or cycling. You will find yourself between the cities Vlaardingen and Maassluis and can also venture beyond the recreation area to see the old farmhouses and visit a golf course.

After your walk, you can have a drink and / or meal at the Jofel aan de Plas cafe.

Location: Surfpad 50, 3132 TW Vlaardingen

Oranjepark

A park within a residential neighborhood (at a walking distance from the city center) with sculptures, a skating rink and a small petting zoo.

Location: W86X+WP Vlaardingen

How to get to Vlaardingen

Vlaardingen is only a ten minutes’ subway ride away from Rotterdam. If you get off at Vlaardingen Centrum, you’ll find yourself at the old harbor of Vlaardingen: the perfect place to start your historical buildings tour.

Where to stay in Vlaardingen

I live in Vlaardingen so I have no need to book a hotel here. I can, however, give you two great recommendations from a local’s perspective. Both the Delta Hotel and the Watertoren are at a walking distance from the city center of Vlaardingen and many of the sights I listed above.

Delta Hotel

A hotel with a view of the water and the big ships heading for the harbor of Rotterdam; Europe’s largest port. The Delta Hotel has the best view in the area.

Book your stay at the Delta Hotel

Location: Maasboulevard 15, 3133 AK Vlaardingen

Watertoren

This bed & breakfast is located in a very interesting building. When staying here you can enjoy this very unique building and the good food served at the restaurant at ground level.

Location: Van Linden van Den Heuvellweg 2B, 3134 AE Vlaardingen

The post Visit the old harbor of Vlaardingen just west of Rotterdam appeared first on Where to Kim?.

Must-see places in Rotterdam from an architectural perspective

Kim — Wed, 18 Mar 2020 15:00:00 +0000

The second-biggest city in the Netherlands is the place to go when you love interesting architecture, visiting museums and good food.

Whereas Amsterdam is known for its canals and historical buildings, one goes to Rotterdam to see modern architecture. That is not to say Rotterdam doesn’t have historical buildings, on the contrary: you just won’t find them in the direct city center. This is because the city center was bombed during the Second World War and was rebuilt after. With a great variety of building styles (hit or miss).

In the neighborhoods and harbors around the city center you will find the historical buildings, for example in the Scheepskwartier neighborhood that the Euromast is located in.

Read on for the places you can’t miss in Rotterdam. You can see most of them in one day!

Blaak

The area around the Blaak subway and train station is home to some of the most interesting buildings in Rotterdam. The architecture is simply astonishing. And best of all: you can see all these buildings from the same square.

Breakfast at the Market Hall (Markthal)

Where to have breakfast? At one of the stalls in the Market Hall. You can’t go wrong here!

The Markthal is one of the newest additions to Rotterdam’s interesting buildings list. This building in the form of a horseshoe has many apartments and offices and was built on top of a Market Hall. Two big glass walls separate the market hall from the world outside, keeping the temperature inside pleasant.

While the outside of the building is grey, the inside was decorated with a colorful artwork called ‘Hoorn des overvloeds’ (‘Horn of plenty’) by Arno Coenen. 3D techniques were used to print the artwork on the aluminum panels.

The market inside is also very interesting: it is part food court and part shops. Here you can taste many Dutch specialties but also food from other countries.

From inside the hall you can see the Cube Houses, Blaak Tower and Rotterdam Central Library.

Location: Dominee Jan Scharpstraat 298, 3011 GZ Rotterdam

Cube Houses (Kubuswoningen)

These houses are probably the most photographed houses in Rotterdam (at least until the Market Hall opened its doors in 2014). The 38 cube houses represent a village within a city. You can see it as a forest of houses, with each house being a tree. The idea is to optimize the space inside with enough space on the ground level. Or as the Dutch architect Piet Blom calls it ‘living as an urban roof’.

You can enter one of the houses to look inside and even stay in one for the night. To me living inside one seems very impractical space-wise but I might be mistaken about that.

Location: Overblaak 70, 3011 MH Rotterdam

Blaak Tower (Blaaktoren)

Also called ‘Het Potlood’ (‘The Pencil’), because it looks like one. For a long time I actually thought Potlood was the official name. It does sound more exciting, doesn’t it?

The Blaak Tower is a residential tower right next to the Cube Houses. The architect of both complexes is the same. Every floor is divided into six equal parts, starting with a narrow part at the center to a wider part near the outside wall. Five of these are used as residences, with the last part covering the utilities. The pointy top is only for the show.

Location: Kolk 90, 3011 MD Rotterdam

Blaak Library (Centrale Bibliotheek)

Another intriguing building that reminds me of a ship (and others of Centre Pompidou in Paris). This building was designed by Jaap Bakema and Hans Boot and is also called ‘the glass waterfall’. The most eye-catching part of the building is the yellow pipes that follow the building from top to bottom.

On the wall you can read a quote from Erasmus: ‘Heel de wereld is mijn vaderland’ (‘Home is everywhere’ or ‘The whole world is my home country’). This is a reply to the quote from Lucebert on another building bordering the Blaak square ‘Alles van waarde is weerloos’ (‘Everything of worth is vulnerable’).

Location: Hoogstraat 110, 3011 PV Rotterdam

Watching art at the Museumpark

Heading to a different part of Rotterdam you can visit the Museumpark. The Museumpark is a unique part of Rotterdam in the Netherlands: it houses many museums, some of them in monumental villas, and is surrounded by green.

The most famous museum, Boijmans van Beuningen, closed its doors in 2019 for renovation. But not to worry: until the big art storage facility opens its doors in 2021, you can watch part of the collection as exhibitions in other museums. And living up to Rotterdam’s reputation, the art storage facility holds its own among the other architecture daredevils in this city, as it looks like a giant rotated ship or mirror silo. In the mirrors you can see the skyline of Rotterdam reflected.

Location Boijmans van Beuningen storage: Melkkoppad 15, 3015 CR Rotterdam

At the Museumpark, you can visit:

Green, greener, greenest at Sonneveld House Rotterdam

Expressionism in drawing at Chabot Museum Rotterdam

A thought-provoking experience at Het Nieuwe Insituut Rotterdam

Tea with lunch at The Tea Lab

The Tea Lab at the Nieuwe Binnenweg is great for breakfast or lunch. They offer a wide variety of teas, coffee and cake (homemade and from local bakeries). Their lunch menu uses lots of healthy ingredients, many of them bio. The Tea Lab is also a great place to bring your laptop and do some work alone or with a colleague.

The Nieuwe Binnenweg is a street in a more downtown part of the city at only a five to ten minutes’ walk from the Museumpark. This is also where you can see more historical buildings.

For the insiders, this street is also home to a new landmark: the work of art in front of the pub Jules Deelder frequented. Jules Deelder, who died in 2019, was nicknamed the ‘Night Mayor’ of Rotterdam. An unofficial title that was given to him because of his black attire and link to the city. His gloomy poems can either make or break your day. I quite like some of them (all in Dutch unfortunately as he actively supported the use of the Dutch language).

Location The Tea Lab: Nieuwe Binnenweg 178A, 3015 BJ Rotterdam

Location statue: WF78+V9 Rotterdam

Shopping at the Koopgoot (‘Shopping gutter’)

The not very chic name of this shopping area belies the shopping experience you can have here. Inside and above the gutter is where many big stores are clustered. This street and the ‘Lijnbaan’ form the heart of Rotterdam’s shopping district.

Location: Beursplein, 3011 Rotterdam

Apple pie at Cafe Dudok

The Dudok apple pie is the standard all other apple pies are measured by in the Rotterdam area. Go try it for yourself.

Location: Meent 88, 3011 JP Rotterdam

A drink at the Witte de Withstraat

This street is the place to be at night. The whole street is lined with cafes and restaurants (and coffee shops) that will fill itself with people enjoying after-work drinks with friends or colleagues. In the streets leading to the Witte de Withstraat you can spot mural art and other artistic expressions.

This street is also home to the TENT Museum with insightful exhibitions telling a story about the world.

Location: Witte de Withstraat 50, 3012 BR Rotterdam

Worldly insights at Tent Rotterdam

Erasmusbrug

On your way to the southern part of the city you cross another very iconic landmark of Rotterdam, namely the Erasmusbrug (the ‘Swan Bridge’). You will see the image of this bridge in pretty much every marketing folder of Rotterdam. These same folders won’t tell you it is quite a challenge to cross this bridge when the weather is stormy.

Location: WF5P+JR Rotterdam

Stay the night at Hotel New York

Hotel New York was originally the headquarters of the ‘Holland-Amerika lijn’, a company that operated ships between Rotterdam and New York. Later it became what it is now: a hotel and restaurant with a beautiful view of the Rotterdam harbor. An iconic location then and now.

Location: Koninginnenhoofd 1, 3072 AD Rotterdam

Where to have dinner

BEET Rotterdam

BEET Rotterdam is a restaurant near the Koopgoot specialized in fish. It is powered by Schmidt Zeevis, which supplies most of the restaurants (and also my home) in the Rotterdam area with fish. Tip: on Sunday’s oysters are only 1 euro as long as the stock lasts.

Location: Rodezand 21, 3011 AM Rotterdam

Antichic

Antichic has only one main course on the menu: their signature Pappardelle with wild mushrooms and truffle. You can probably imagine how good it must be… The other courses change regularly, depending on the fresh ingredients that day. They offer 3, 4, 5 and 6-course dinner arrangements. For drinks you can order a la carte or go for a wine or juice arrangement that goes very well with the food.

Location: Soetensteeg 1, 3011 GR Rotterdam

Hotel New York

At Hotel New York you can choose from a wide range of dishes from the international kitchen. They also have a specialized oyster menu that is very good. From the terrace you can see the skyline of Rotterdam.

Location: Koninginnenhoofd 1, 3072 AD Rotterdam

How to get to Rotterdam

You can reach the city center of Rotterdam in less than forty minutes by train from Amsterdam Schiphol Airport. Easy right? Alternatively, you can join a walking tour or bike tour with a local guide showing you around.

The post Must-see places in Rotterdam from an architectural perspective appeared first on Where to Kim?.

Discovering new artists at Art Rotterdam Week 2020

Kim — Fri, 14 Feb 2020 14:00:00 +0000

A week of art and creativity, of visiting new places and discovering new artists. Art Rotterdam Week 2020 challenged the storm and presented a Valhalla for art lovers.

Art Rotterdam Week is a yearly event that shows the artistic side of Rotterdam. All over the city, you can visit art fairs, exhibitions especially created for this week and meet with like-minded people. The 2020 version was held between 5 and 9 February.

Braving the storm Ciara I ventured out to visit two fairs and an exhibition. No FOMO; I can’t visit them all while working forty hours a week. Instead, I made a selection based on the venues, because I was really interested in seeing the (historical) buildings these events were housed in from up close:

The New Current at the Spaanse Kubus (Spaanse Polder);
Art Rotterdam at the Van Nelle Factory; and
OBJECT Rotterdam at the HAKA Building (Merwe-Vierhavensgebied).

Free shuttle buses connect the venues and it is also possible to park for free nearby.

The New Current exhibition

The New Current is located at the Spaanse Kubus in an industrial area in Rotterdam; an area I only visit to buy groceries from wholesalers. But I had never heard of this former parking garage named the Spaanse Kubus.

The parking garage proved to be the perfect location to showcase experimental work from new artists: it is spacy and the artists use this space to create more meaning for their art. The works on display examine the space between human experiences and digital technologies. All of them tell a message that is not always clear without reading the description. And many of them just look beautiful in the dark exhibition space where the reflection of light can do its work.

Dit bericht bekijken op Instagram

Art Rotterdam Week 2020: Exhibition at The New Current in a former parking garage in Rotterdam. #artrotterdamweek #artrotterdam2020 #artexhibition #thenewcurrent #art #rotterdam #netherlands #netherlandstravel #museum #exploretheworld #explorethenetherlands #kunst #kunsttentoonstelling #kunstinrotterdam #contemporaryart #artrotterdam #artfair

Een bericht gedeeld door WheretoKim (@wheretokim) op 9 Feb 2020 om 11:59 (PST)

I could also appreciate the variety. Not one of them looked the same (though I had seen the one by Ouna Clitan before at Het Nieuwe Instituut Rotterdam). And more than that: when you move around the room and your perspective changes, what is expressed changes as well. I always like it a lot when I can walk around and in between a work of art because it provides a deeper experience like you’re discovering more about yourself. Especially if the artworks are about human experiences and digital technologies: something that I am part of. It makes you think.

Art Rotterdam fair

I have wanted to visit the Van Nelle Factory for a long time and even more since seeing the movie about it at the Chabot Museum Rotterdam. The factory was designed by the same architects as Sonneveld House Rotterdam, a former residence in the Dutch Functionalist style turned museum. I had no doubt such a building would stand its own against Ciara.

The exhibition hall of the factory was transformed into one big fair with exhibitions from many local and international art galleries. Not only was there a big variety of art on display there was also a video section providing an augmented experience. The short movies were accompanied by sound that was perfectly tailored to the message the movie aims to express.

Dit bericht bekijken op Instagram

Art Rotterdam Week 2020: Art fair at the Van Nelle Factory in Rotterdam. I love how the color of the hearts on my sweater match the color on the painting! #artrotterdamweek #artrotterdam2020#artexhibition #vannellefabriek #vannellefactory #art #rotterdam#netherlands #netherlandstravel #museum#exploretheworld #explorethenetherlands #kunst#kunsttentoonstelling #kunstinrotterdam#contemporaryart #artrotterdam #artfair

Een bericht gedeeld door WheretoKim (@wheretokim) op 11 Feb 2020 om 12:31 (PST)

While the exhibition at The New Current was about the experience for me, the fair at Art Rotterdam was all about discovery. About discovering new artists to keep track of and new galleries to visit. I saw many interesting artworks at this fair and was quite happy I could take pictures of some of them to look at later.

If you are interested in visiting the Van Nelle Factory: the Chabot Museum Rotterdam organizes tours regularly.

OBJECT Rotterdam fair

The design fair OBJECT Rotterdam was held for the third and last time at the industrial HAKA building near the harbor of Rotterdam. The idea of there being an interesting industrial building that I had never seen before (and might not have a chance to later) is what made me visit OBJECT Rotterdam.

After I enjoyed Experiencing and Discovering at the two previous sites, it was now time for Inspiration.

Dit bericht bekijken op Instagram

Art Rotterdam Week 2020: Design fair at OBJECT Rotterdam. #artrotterdamweek #artrotterdam2020 #artexhibition #designfair #objectrotterdam #hakabuilding #designer #art #rotterdam#netherlands #netherlandstravel #museum#exploretheworld #explorethenetherlands #kunst#kunsttentoonstelling #kunstinrotterdam#contemporaryart #artrotterdam #artfair

Een bericht gedeeld door WheretoKim (@wheretokim) op 11 Feb 2020 om 12:57 (PST)

All seven floors of this architectural monument were used for the fair and many artists made optimal use of the space by positioning their designs in front of holes in the wall, rectangular windows and small nooks. The designs made the building shine and the building added to the feeling an object gave off.

Many objects were things you could imagine yourself spicing up your living room with. You could see furniture, fashion, jewelry, architecture, and graphics. The designers themselves were present to tell more about their work. What’s more inspirational than that?

With all objects displaying a different style it is only natural that not all of them appeal to you, but some of them I would have liked to have in my house. If I had a bigger house and budget that is… I was quite happy to see there are so many creative people in the world designing new things that may someday find its way into my home or yours.

Final thoughts

A city turned into a Valhalla (and mecca; the website seems confused) for art lovers. Many beautiful works of art and designs exist in the world and events like this help you see them by gathering them all in one spot (or city). For me, Art Rotterdam Week 2020 was all about experiencing things myself, discovering new artists and getting inspired. As I could not see it all this year, I have high hopes for next year.

Let’s keep an eye out for Art Rotterdam Week 2021 at Artweekrotterdam.com.

The post Discovering new artists at Art Rotterdam Week 2020 appeared first on Where to Kim?.

Green, greener, greenest at Sonneveld House Rotterdam

Kim — Fri, 27 Dec 2019 14:00:00 +0000

A house of color, light and spacious, showing the spirit of functionalism. In the middle of Rotterdam’s Museumpark, you can visit Sonneveld House Rotterdam.

The Museumpark is a unique part of Rotterdam in the Netherlands: it houses many museums, some of them in monumental villas, and is surrounded by green. You can find Sonneveld House Rotterdam in the same street as Chabot Museum Rotterdam and Het Nieuwe Instituut Rotterdam.

Sonneveld House

The villa was designed in 1933 by architecture firm Brinkman and Van der Vlugt for Albert Sonneveld who was the director of the Van Nelle Factory (a UNESCO World Heritage Site nearby). The design of Chabot Museum Rotterdam follows the same style, which is not surprising as the architect worked for the same firm.

The building is white, spacious and plays with light. This use of light and space follows the principles of functionalism: “More light in the house”. The five points of Le Corbusier are also observed. The pristine white from the exterior forms a stark contrast with the color used inside.

Inside Sonneveld House Rotterdam

The building and the rooms with the furniture and accessories form museum. Everything is kept very close to the original state from when the Sonneveld family lived in the house. You have to wear overshoes as to not damage the floor inside.

In every room, the first thing you notice is the color used. And not your everyday colors, but vermillion red, cornflower blue, turquoise and canary yellow among them. If you do it, then do it to the fullest, right? For myself, I can’t imagine living there being surrounded by that one color every day. Say yellow for my bedroom, greenish-blue for the bathroom and red for the living room. But that only makes it more interesting to explore a villa with rooms like that for a day.

The furniture is practical: no space wasted by cupboards and closets, because they all blend with the room; the colors preventing you from paying special attention to them.

All in all worth a visit. Be it for inspiration for your own home, relief that your home isn’t like that or a very unique experience walking in the footsteps of a well-off Dutch family in the 1920s.

How to get to Sonneveld House Rotterdam

Sonneveld House Rotterdam is in the middle of Rotterdam’s Museumpark: an area that also houses Boijmans van Beuningen Museum, Chabot Museum and Het Nieuwe Instituut. The museum is only a 15 minutes walk from Rotterdam Central Station. If you’re coming by tram or subway you should get off at the stop Eendrachtsplein and walk about 5 minutes to Jongkindstraat 12, Rotterdam.

Opening hours

Tuesday – Sunday 11:00 – 17:00 (until 21:00 on Thursdays). Closed on Mondays and on New Years Day, King’s Day (April 27) and Christmas Day.

Tickets

Tickets are 14 euros for adults and free for kids. Entrance is also free with a Rotterdampas or Museumkaart (for those spending more time in the Netherlands). You get a discount with a Rotterdam Welcome Card (tickets will be 10.50 euros).

With your ticket for Sonneveld House Rotterdam you can visit Het Nieuwe Instituut Rotterdam for free.

Other interesting museums nearby

Enjoy a thought-provoking experience at Het Nieuwe Instituut Rotterdam
Expressionism at Chabot Museum Rotterdam.
Explore questions involving society at TENT Rotterdam

The post Green, greener, greenest at Sonneveld House Rotterdam appeared first on Where to Kim?.

Expressionism in drawing at Chabot Museum Rotterdam

Kim — Fri, 13 Dec 2019 14:00:00 +0000

In the middle of Rotterdam’s Museumpark, you can visit Chabot Museum Rotterdam to see interesting exhibitions (expressionism) and explore the beautiful villa surrounded by green in the center of Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

The villa

The villa, now a listed monument, was built in 1938 in the same modernist style as other houses in the street, one of them being the Sonneveld House. The architect, G.W. Baas, worked many years for the architects that designed the Sonneveld House, Van Nelle Factories and Feyenoord Stadium and it clearly shows. When you visit Chabot Museum Rotterdam, pay special attention to the light and airy spaces, the openness of the garden and the view it offers of the other buildings in the Museumpark.

Art style

The Chabot Museum Rotterdam focuses on expressionism and has a collection of works by the Dutch expressionist Henk Chabot, featuring painted landscapes, raging seas and other scenes showing the forces of nature.

Current exhibition: Armando’s Darlings

From September 19, 2019, until March 1, 2020, you can see ‘Armando’s Darlings’, an exhibition with drawings from the private collection of Armando (1929 – 2018). The 400 works from contemporary artists, of which 140 from the Netherlands and Germany, have been donated to the Chabot Museum Rotterdam in 2014. Besides the drawings you can also see ethnographic sculptures that were set up in his apartment to banish evil spirits even though, quoting Armando, ‘it doesn’t work’.

Armando was one of the Netherlands‘ most famous postwar artists. His view of the world depicts universal themes such as destruction, war, and peace, but also the beauty of evil and man‘s relationship with his (violent) fellow man with intensity. He was a writer, a poet, a dramatist, a violinist and a visual artist with an impressive oeuvre expressing his experience from living near Kamp Amersfoort during the Second World War.

Armando appreciated drawings on paper a lot: “A good drawing. That is what I call beauty”. He was a vivid collector of art, often donating work to Chabot Museum Rotterdam, and enjoyed visiting the museum.

I really liked the drawings in the collection as many of them were abstract and absurd at the same time. They show a different perspective of situations and of the human body and invite you to come up with your own explanation. You often find yourself standing in front of a drawing and wondering what you’re seeing and why the scene is worthy of drawing. I am now a fan of Lucebert (1924 – 1994), who is actually best known for being a poet in the Netherlands. All in all, a very diverse collection that is worth visiting.

Van Nelle Factory

In the basement of Chabot Museum Rotterdam you can watch a film about the building of the Van Nelle Factory that has been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2014. For me this short film (I watched about half of the twenty minutes) was very interesting because it is right next to the train station and highway and I see it very often.

The factory is a well-known event location and also houses startups and a restaurant. I’m reading mixed reviews of people visiting the actual site for sightseeing purposes unfortunately. It sounds like you can only visit and take pictures if you have a reservation for the restaurant (with mixed reviews as well).

You can however join one of the tours to the Van Nelle Factory that Chabot Museum Rotterdam organises on Saturdays and Sundays.

How to get to Chabot Museum Rotterdam

Chabot Museum Rotterdam is in the middle of Rotterdam’s Museumpark: an area that also houses Boijmans van Beuningen Museum, Sonneveld House and Het Nieuwe Instituut. The museum is only a 15 minutes walk from Rotterdam Central Station. If you’re coming by tram or subway you should get off at the stop Eendrachtsplein and walk about 5 minutes to Museumpark 11, Rotterdam.

Opening hours:

Tuesday – Friday 11:00 – 16:30
Saturday 11:00 – 17:00
Sunday 12:00 – 17:00

The museum is closed on Mondays and holidays (Dec 25, 26, 31 and Jan 1 among them).

Tickets:

Tickets are 8 euros for adults and free for kids. Entrance is also free with a Rotterdampas or Museumkaart (for those spending more time in the Netherlands). You get a discount of 30% with a Rotterdam Welcome Card.

Other interesting museums nearby

Enjoy a thought-provoking experience at Het Nieuwe Instituut Rotterdam
Explore questions involving society at TENT Rotterdam
Sonneveld House

The post Expressionism in drawing at Chabot Museum Rotterdam appeared first on Where to Kim?.

Worldy insights at TENT Rotterdam

Kim — Fri, 06 Dec 2019 14:00:00 +0000

Explore questions involving society at TENT Rotterdam: the platform for contemporary art in the Netherlands. The exhibitions at the museum take from Rotterdam’s vibrant urban culture to discuss contrasts in society from a worldwide perspective.

Even though all exhibitions are temporary, I will describe the three I saw on November 24, 2019 to give an idea of the type of exhibitions TENT Rotterdam runs.

Exhibition "Wild Bet" by Gil & Moti

Wild Bet focuses on gambling as a socio-psychological phenomenon. They raise the question of whether gambling is something that captivates society as a whole or something that holds only a certain group of people its grip. Loneliness and exclusion are contrasted with the few moments of happiness gambling can bring.

When you enter the first hall of this exhibition your eye gets drawn by a balled-up picture of the artists (presumably) on the wall. The chairs and tv screen in the middle of the room make me feel like an uninvited guest (maybe because I’m the only one there early Sunday morning).

More interesting are the objects on the wall: wooden planks with shirts draped around them. These were the shirts the artists Gil & Moti wore when they went to Rio de Janeiro to find the illegal gambling game ‘Jogo de Bicho’ (animal game) that was played everywhere on the streets. While hearing about the harsh daily reality and lack of perspective around that scene the artists realized they were only tourists who had a way out, unlike the people actually living that reality.

From there you cross the corridor to a green room with mounted television screens resembling slot machines. Here Gil & Moti took inspiration from the government-run slot machines that can be found in nearly every supermarket. The games on these machines mirror folkloric fantasy in Finland and form a stark contrast with the stories of the various immigrants they met in Helsinki.

Behind the green room is a ‘hidden’ back room with gambling tables imitating those found in the gambling halls in Rotterdam. The scene, named ‘Chinese Buffet’, shows the promotional materials often used to attract customers to the gambling halls and raise the question of whether immigrants are deliberately targeted.

The exhibition can be visited from October 11, 2019, until January 12, 2020.

Exhibition "The Rural Side" by Wapke Feenstra

From the gambling hall, you enter a project room with various objects and drawings on the wall. In this room, you are challenged to dismantle prevailing perceptions that the city and countryside are the opposite. A place for residents to come together and have a casual talk at the kitchen table.

The name of the exhibition (“The Rural Side” or “Boerenzij” in Dutch) is taken from the derogatory nickname from the southern side of Rotterdam. In the 19th and 20th centuries, the polders and villages south of the river were annexed by the cities, inviting mainly rural labor migrants into the city. Even for those who ‘move’ to the city, the countryside still stays with them. Yet the ever lingering perception that the countryside and city are treated differently in urban and rural planning and politics prevails.

The exhibition can be visited from October 11, 2019, until January 12, 2020.

Educational Project "Het Gareel" by Pavel van Houten

Upon entering the hall your vision turns yellow and purple. Sixteen wooden workbenches form a circle in the middle of the room. The idea is that the students receive instructions via headphones to create something out of the objects on their workbench. All this following a tight ritual to investigate the freedom that originates from a creative process with restrictions. Does the creative flow come from walking in line or can good art only sprout from complete freedom?

This exhibition could be seen between October 16 and November 24, 2019.

Final Thoughts

If you’re interested in questions involving society, then TENT is a good museum for you. It is not enough to just watch: you need to keep the question asked and the contrast being expressed by the artists in mind while making your way through the halls. When you do, the exhibitions become many times more meaningful.

How to get to TENT Rotterdam

TENT Rotterdam is located at the Witte de Withstraat 50 in Rotterdam. The museum is only a 15 minutes walk from Rotterdam Central Station. If you’re coming by tram or subway you should get off at the stop Eendrachtsplein and walk about 5 minutes.

Opening hours: Tuesday – Sunday 11:00 – 18:00 (until 21:00 on Fridays). Closed on Monday and on New Years Day, King’s Day (April 27) and Christmas Day.

Tickets are 5 euros. Entrance is also free with a Rotterdampas or Museumkaart (Dutch websites; for those spending more time in the Netherlands). You get a discount with a Rotterdam Welcome Card (for tourists; tickets will be 2.5 euros).

Please also take a moment to look at the majestic building TENT Rotterdam has been housed in since 1999 (the building on the left in the picture above). It was designed by C.B van der Tak and constructed in 1872 – 1874 to house a higher civic school. It underwent multiple reconstructions until it started to serve as a house of art around 1990 for the Witte de With Center of Contemporary Art.

(Yes, I know I should go back to take a better picture in front of the building.)

Around TENT Rotterdam

The bars and cafes at the Witte de Withstraat are a very popular destination for locals and tourists. This area especially comes to life at night but there is also plenty to see during the day. See if you can find these mural paintings:

Other Museums in Rotterdam

Nearby you can also find Het Nieuwe Instituut Rotterdam, a museum that combines architecture, design and digital culture to offer thought-provoking exhibitions about what matters to humans in the 21st century.

With your ticket for Het Nieuwe Instituut you can also enter Sonneveld House and in the same street you can find Chabot Museum.

Pin it for later

The post Worldy insights at TENT Rotterdam appeared first on Where to Kim?.

A thought-provoking experience at Het Nieuwe Instituut Rotterdam

Kim — Wed, 27 Nov 2019 14:00:00 +0000

Het Nieuwe Instituut Rotterdam combines architecture, design and digital culture to offer thought-provoking exhibitions about what matters to humans in the 21st century.

About Het Nieuwe Instituut ("The New Institute")

Het Nieuwe Instituut for Architecture, Design and Digital Culture “examines the designed world and how it is constantly being changed by new technologies, new ideas and shifting social priorities. Innovations […] will be expressed in both speculative explorations of the future and critical reflections on innovative movements past and present.”

It visualizes the challenge and also the opportunity that architecture brings when it responds to societal questions and technological change. Technologies infiltrate all aspects of society and have transformed not only the design process but also underlying geopolitical and economic contexts. From there it is only a small step to design thinking, another way to deal with the modern world. Everything can be designed nowadays, from your personal social media profile to a government campaign, showing the world only what you want it to see. But if that is what others see, do they really see you?

I See That I See What You Don’t See

The exhibition “I See That I See What You Don’t See” illustrates this perfectly. It is about the world we live in: a world that is always switched on and where the difference between day and night no longer seems relevant for productivity. You will see the complex relationships between light and dark, between seeing and not seeing and explore their effects on humans, the Earth and other organisms.

You enter the gallery and find yourself in a large gray concrete hall. The first thing you notice are the long mirrors hanging vertically from the ceiling, immediately changing your perspective of the room around you. You read the information explaining the meaning of the exhibition but your attention is drawn by the mirrors and the light falling in from the sun outside through sunny patterns. Clearly, the light is distracting you from what you were doing, so you might as well walk between the mirrors, turning around and around the observe the room from different angles.

In the middle of the room is a black dome. When you get near the dome you notice a voice from a speaker. You’re not alone. In a small room that you can’t access you see a bed and a picture of a woman on the wall behind it. You can’t get to the woman. Suddenly you see an arrow on the dome, pointing at the entrance. You go in and enter a black world but not entirely black. There are lights on the ceiling telling stories and alcoves with movies. Again you see the woman and from this perspective, she looks even more locked up. On the floor and on the ceiling you can read more about a world that is always switched on.

Everything, from the sounds to the use of the room, the colors and the images illustrate that it is all around you. You might not always be aware of it but it is there and especially in the dome you can feel the pressure. A very impressive feat.

The exhibition “I See That I See What You Don’t See”, previously the official Dutch contribution to the XXII Triennale di Milano, can be seen in Rotterdam from March 1 until December 29, 2019. If you have the chance, do stop by as it is a very interesting exhibition to experience.

Animal Encounters

Nearly hidden behind walls you can find the stairs to the galleries upstairs. The gallery on the second floor is currently under construction but from December 1, 2019, until April 12, 2020, you can see “The Hoodie”, about the role of a fashion garment as a socio-political carrier, here.

On the third floor, you can find the exhibition “Animal Encounters” between October 10, 2019, and January 26, 2020. This exhibition visualizes how architecture can facilitate the encounter between humans and other animals.

You can see the institutionalization of animals on three scales: the domestic cage, the urban zoo and the territorial national park. The habitats of the humans and animals blend but in the back of your mind, you can’t shake the thought that humankind is controlling the animal environment as much as possible.

Open archives

On the same floor are the open archives: narratives in new and innovative forms created by re-using digital collections of museums and archives. All narratives tell a story that is very recognizable for a human being in the modern world. The forms chosen make the message hit home.

The following three exhibitions can be seen from November 14, 2019 until January 26, 2020.

Con/de/struction by Guy Königstein

Through pictures of empty office buildings, you gain insight into spatial strategies within Dutch architecture. Add the right tune and you feel like you’re in a horror movie while you look at the abandoned spaces with notes about demolition, conversions, re-use and camouflage.

The Stolen Archive by Donna Verheijden

This time you’re in a speculative thriller movie while watching the images, audio clips and objects that can be used as characters and movie sets.

The Evening News and the Automatic Plough by Oana Clitan

Big Brother is watching you. The language use and rhetoric in news broadcasting are already showing the first forms of automation. Through tv screens and snippets of texts, you reflect on the emergence of artificial intelligence as the influence of artificial intelligence and machine learning on news consumption today is illustrated.

Final thoughts

With so much going on in the world around us it is nearly impossible to pay attention to all of it. You wonder what is real: is everything really as it seems or are you merely seeing a projection of what they want you to see. And is that projection one made by humans or are we slowly losing control to automation? A natural follow up exhibition would be about Human Encounters where humankind has joined the animals in their controlled environment.

If you’re in Rotterdam, then I highly recommend a visit to this museum. The exhibitions will change over time but I’m convinced the new ones will be just as interesting.

How to get to Het Nieuwe Instituut Rotterdam

Het Nieuwe Instituut is in the middle of Rotterdam’s Museumpark: an area that also houses Boijmans van Beuningen Museum, Sonneveld House and the Chabot Museum. The museum is only a 15 minutes walk from Rotterdam Central Station. If you’re coming by tram or subway you should get off at the stop Eendrachtsplein and walk about 5 minutes to Museumpark 5 in Rotterdam.

Opening hours

Tuesday – Sunday 11:00 – 17:00 (until 21:00 on Thursdays). Closed on Mondays and on New Years Day, King’s Day (April 27) and Christmas Day.

Tickets

Pin it for later

The post A thought-provoking experience at Het Nieuwe Instituut Rotterdam appeared first on Where to Kim?.