Food and architecture

It was the Day of Architecture in a fair amount of Dutch cities today. This year it was all about the relationship between food and architecture, which are two of my favourite things in life ;-) Seriously though, it seemed a bit illustrative of the state architecture is in these days. While in previous years the big, shiny buildings of Rotterdam were the main attractions, today urban farming and re-used buildings were in the spotlight. The emphasis was on the food most of the time (at least at the places we visited) so I'm still not sure the theme was that well-chosen for a day about architecture, but I am definitely happy with a more modest architecture that is more aware of the city's history.

One of the buildings that opened its doors for the public was Vertrekhal Oranjelijn in a part of the harbour that's being redeveloped. I wrote my Master's thesis on the history of this building and its architect and decided to show the J. around (for the first time in more than a year after finishing my thesis...). The owner trades in fair trade coffee and has renovated this building (which was a bit of a ruin) almost single handedly. Besides this obvious connection between food and architecture, in this building the transit of coffees, fruits and other perishables took place between 1948 and ca 1970. I'm a bit biased, but I think this is one of the most gorgeous buildings in the city and port of Rotterdam.