It’s official: we’re mega-fans of Rotterdam! Shedding its crappy parts and putting up new amazing architectural highlights, Rotterdam can be compared to a caterpillar that turned into a beautiful butterfly over the past few years.
As a born Rotterdammer, I already had the pleasure of writing at DutchReview about some great photographers in Rotterdam. Now, let’s look at some of the best shots of Rotterdam!
Epic Rotterdam by Gestaltes
Who are we talking about here? Gestaltes are two friends with a passion for photography and the city — and they do a great job making Rotterdam look super special.
READ MORE | 24 best and free things to do in Rotterdam in 2023
Let’s look at some of Rotterdam’s iconic architectural buildings one at a time, or as they say in Rotterdam: geen woorden maar daden — no words but deeds.
The Erasmus Bridge
While Erasmus Bridge is fairly young (opened in 1996), it quickly became a symbol of the port city. It’s also made it onto all kinds of “best bridges in the world” lists and you can see why:
De Rotterdam
Right next to the Erasmus Bridge, you can find De Rotterdam building. It’s huge and was only completed a few years ago, but is already a crowd favourite.
New Orleans
Right next to De Rotterdam is the New Orleans building. A 46-storey, 158-metre tall residential skyscraper designed by Álvaro Siza Vieira, it is the second tallest residential building in the Netherlands (after Zalmhaven which was recently completed — also in Rotterdam).
Kop van Zuid
All these buildings, as well as Rotterdam’s Cruise Terminal, are located at the Kop van Zuid neighbourhood. It’s a Walhalla for architecture lovers and photographers.
The Central Station of Rotterdam
Amsterdam has been working for decades on theirs — but Rotterdam finished its awesome train station under its budget and time schedule (and it’s lit af).
Tons of other architectural highlights
Rotterdam has tons of other plans for new and epic buildings and there’s still plenty in the city to discover.
Bonus: the Buttplug Gnome in Rotterdam
The bronze statue was intended to show Santa holding a festive bell and a Christmas tree, but the artist that made it, Paul McCarthy, did it a bit differently.
READ MORE | 31 unmissable things to do in Rotterdam in 2023
After some moaning by Rotterdammers about the costs, the sexually active gnome became adopted and loved by the city.
Have you been to Rotterdam yet? What do you love the most about the city? Let us know in the comments!
Feature Image: Gestaltes/Supplied
Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in January 2018, and was fully updated in July 2023 for your reading pleasure.
[…] told my friends who live in Rotterdam and Amsterdam that The Hague is underrated many times. Sure, it may not have some of the events […]
[…] Well, the Markthal is already all over the place and we did a good photo report of loads of epic architecture in Rotterdam a while back already so we went for a different take on things – something that would really […]
[…] June – 3rd June in locations all over Rotterdam, so that’s 3 whole days of being a Rotterdammer! Check out the website for more […]
[…] from Rotterdam clearly being any architects wet dream, there is so much more that Rotterdam has to offer. Here is […]
Such a beautiful city! a total espectacular architectonic style, that seems to ve unique un the world!