Samenvatting

‘Block R’ investigates the theme of the city block. The objective is to find autonomous design elements for an urban entity: an open plinth with diagonal crossing, an atrium, open floors with concentrated volumes for living, working and refreshments, distinct voids or outlook spaces for meetings and activities, green space, circulation spaces like ramps and skybridges, and a regulating screen façade. The design is intriguing as an unsuspected compilation of different functionalities, as a pocket in the city which itself forms a city. The design elements themselves are not made to harmonize. This is also true for the block itself, although from the inside it is orientated towards its surroundings. As part of the inner city of Rotterdam, where it is located on the former site of the V&D superstore, the block deliberately speaks another language. In that perspective Block R is pointing towards new contextual concepts, at other scales, which may redefine the city block