Over the past twenty years, Rotterdam has emerged as one of the lesser-known cultural capitals of Europe. An organically mined “creative class” was very important to the city’s urban renewal strategies, which culminated at the turn of the millennium. A combination of efforts by artists, cultural entrepreneurs, maverick city officials, and real estate developers (and their architects) can be looked at as a model for “urban redevelopment” by the world over.

Foundation B.A.D. Lounge

It helps a lot that Rotterdam re-engineered itself into theArchitectural Seventh Wonder of the World, due to the efforts of Rem Koolhaas and his friends. The Rotterdam revival was documented and promoted by an impressive native publishing industry led by pioneers like 010 Publishers and the Dutch National Architecture Institute (NAI). Their efforts influenced coverage of Rotterdam in hundreds of architecture and urban design periodicals world over, and gave it prominence in the fields of Urbanism, design, and architecture. Perhaps it was the unfortunate combination of a totally bombed-out city center and a surrounding port in transition that made it possible for “underutilized land” to be used as an experiment in urban “development.”

Lesser known aspects of the “development” of the city can be seen through the various roles of artists, squatters, and cultural workers in the 80s and 90s. It was in this period that students and artists of all stripes took over abandoned factories and buildings all over the city (and many other Dutch cities), to start new spaces. The squatter movement led to a proliferation of unencumbered counter-cultural activity, thanks to the creation of semi-public venues, studio spaces, exhibition halls, cafes, and huge underground party venues.

One interesting case in point is the Hotel New York.

This incredible building, the former headquarters for the Holland America Line, lay dormant from 1984-1988 on the Wilhelminapier, South Bank (De Kop van Zuid). In 1988, a group of artists squatted the building and used it for living and working and partying. They organized themselves under the name of Groot-Manhaattan (Great Manhattan) and made a huge art space that open to the public. Other artists discovered additional abandoned spaces on the pier and hosted important exhibitions and parties up and down the bank. Their efforts lead to the establishment of cultural institutions and festivals.

By 1992, some cultural entrepreneurs started working on the building in an “official” capacity, to create a restaurant and hotel. In a few years, the Hotel New York became the hot shit cultural spot of the city, and probably the entire country. Sitting in the middle of the harbour, accessible by muddy roads and giving that industrial 90s vibe, this DIY endeavour was a massive hit.

This project was a big lesson for the city officials. Hotel New York laid the groundwork for the total development of the pier district itself and other areas of the city. Over the span of a decade, experimental office architecture followed the once squatters paradise. You could say the Hotel New York “experiment” was the beginning of the official creative culture industry of Rotterdam. Even Amsterdammers started to feel their monopoly on cultural capital slip away. Today, that sweet terminal hot spot for cool people is a fully loaded urban playground that is no longer a bohemian enclave. De Kop van Zuid is now yuppie central. In spite of the demographics (or because of them) the City council is trying to repeat the De Kop van Zuid model in other neighbourhoods with varying degrees of success and failure.

It’s important to note that the squatter-movement-that-turned-pro lead to the development of the anti-squat policies. In the past, people just squatted buildings when they lay dormant and did what they wanted to them. Today, underutilized spaces are rented out as homes/studios or clubs to cultural workers all over the city. This arrangement may seem at odds with the spirit of the original squat movement. And it’s romantic to consider and argue that in the 80s-90s artists, transformed their city autonomously without the help of the Man or the state.

Foundation B.A.D. Courtyard

However there are some major benefits to the current scenarios. Some squats made permanent roots and professionalized areas, whereas others were booted in the name of “urban renewal” and found temporary homes in anti-squat building complexes. In general, most of the artists and the city cooperated in a mutually beneficial exploitation, something unheard of in our neck of the woods. The fact that the government actually works with its “creative class” of citizens to provide cheap and large spaces for rent is in stark contrast to the plight of artists in America. In the US, hyper-speculation and the use of the artists in a market-based race for gentrification guarantees that artist communities will be decimated once they play their role of ethnic and class cleansing. In Rotterdam you can still fight for your right to housing and studio space. Or at least you can find some space that is affordable.

The artists Jeoren Jongeleen and Jeroen Bosch gave my wife and I a fast-paced tour of some of the studio spaces in Rotterdam. Most of them were formerly squatted, and they were all in different states of precarity and permanence. We went to a warehouse on the harbour to a monastery near the train stations and then to an old middle school that occupied almost an entire block. These spaces create an inspiring series that complements the other urban developments in town quite nicely. You might want to get a residency at one of them.

ATELIERS AND ARTIST RUN SPACES

Kunstenaarsinitiatief Duende
Tamboerstraat 9
3034 PT Rotterdam
The Netherlands
http://www.duendestudios.nl
Duende is a self-organized and independent artist cooperative, housed in a 42-studio building that provides space for artists to carry out their work professionally. The building is a former school, rented by the members of Duende cooperative from a communal housing company (OBR). Apart from the permanent residencies, Duende is running a guest studio program, which provides three large studios, each with a separate living space, to foreign artists for a period of three months.

Het Wilde Weten
Robert Fruinstraat 35
3021 XB Rotterdam
http://www.hetwildeweten.com/site/
This is the former monastery studio complex..

Cucosa
Raampoortstraat 16
3032 AH Rotterdam
http://www.cucosa.nl/index.html
Studiobuilding + exhibition space. The site is all in Dutch though.

Kaus Australis
Melanchtonweg 137
3045PN Rotterdam
http://www.kausaustralis.org/start.php
These guys have about five residency studio in the building. They are incredibly beautiful studios.

Het Plafond
Gedempte Zalmhaven 761
3011 BT Rotterdam / NL
http://www.hetplafond.org/read/hetplafond/4244?submenu=4244
“Het Plafond is a space for the arts and for culture in the apartment of Willem Besselink (visual artist) and Guus Vreeburg (art historian). Located at Gedempte Zalmhaven in the centre of Rotterdam, Het Plafond is a space for artists to do special projects.”

Foundation BAD
Talingstraat 5
3082 MG Rotterdam.
http://www.foundationbad.nl
Our friend Jeroen Jongeleen has a studio in this old middle school building. As you might imagine, the classrooms are the studios. There is a sweet courtyard and a nice entry hall that’s used for exhibitions once in awhile.

Kunst & Complex Keileweg 26
3029 BT Rotterdam
www.kunstencomplex.nl
Our friend Jeroen Kuster, of Joe Kisser fame, has a space here. Huge studio spaces with concrete floors. Right off the harbor.

Singer Sweatshop
Hoogstraat 170
An artist-run space and squat that does exhibitions, parties, and espresso. It is a “home to artists’ studios, exhibitions, teatimes, coffeebars, filmnights, workshops, and other goodlife activities.”
http://www.myspace.com/singersweatshop
http://trendbeheer.com/tag/singer-sweatshop/

Manana
http://trendbeheer.com/2008/06/22/manana-arts-beats-goodlife-door-baschz-julstar/#more-12010
Run by the same people who do the Singer Sweatshop, exhibition + hip hop party platform. Super nice!

by Ed Marzewski