Tornado at FENIX Museum of Migration Rotterdam news, Netherlands architecture, Dutch Cultural Centre photos
Tornado at FENIX Museum Rotterdam
Architectural Renovation Project in Holland design by MAD Architects
10 September 2024
Design: MAD Architects, China
Location: Rotterdam, Holland
Topping Out The Tornado at FENIX Museum of Migration in Rotterdam
A SPECTACULAR FEAT OF ENGINEERING AND DESIGN
BY MAD ARCHITECTS FOR FENIX MUSEUM ROTTERDAM OPENING 2025
photo © Henry Verhorst
Tornado at FENIX Museum of Migration in Rotterdam
The final phase of the installation of one of the most daring architectural interventions ever undertaken, the spectacular ‘Tornado’, took place on 9 September, the symbolic topping out of FENIX Museum in Rotterdam designed by internationally acclaimed architects MAD.
FENIX is the first museum in the world dedicated to stories of migration and will open in Rotterdam in spring 2025 with a collection of work by more than 80 international artists. The museum is housed in a 16,000 sq ft former warehouse on a landmark site in the heart of Rotterdam’s historic harbour, which is currently undergoing a major transformation under the supervision of MAD Architects and conservation architects, Bureau Polderman.
photo © Henry Verhorst
The Tornado is a dynamic structure evocative of rising air that climbs from the ground floor and flows up and out of the rooftop onto a platform hovering above the city. It is a symbol for the journeys experienced by migrants globally.
Topping out of the Tornado at FENIX, Rotterdam:
photograph © Henry Verhorst
Rising some 30 metres, the Tornado is clad in 297 highly polished stainless-steel panels, made in Groningen, The Netherlands. The canopy that sits at the top of the structure is 17m wide and was transported by boat from Groningen to Rotterdam before being craned into place today. Inside the Tornado is a 550m long double-helix wooden staircase which emerges onto the roof of the building, with views across the skyline of the city.
Anne Kremers, Director of FENIX, said:
“This is an exciting moment in the development of Europe’s newest museum. FENIX’s story is Rotterdam’s story. And its story is of the world. One of arrivals and departures, and of constant change to face the future. Working with a line-up of some of the best artists in the world, when we open next Spring, we hope to share these universal experiences in the creative space of FENIX: a next generation museum for a new generation of museum goers.”
photograph © Frank Hanswijk
Ma Yansong, Founder & Principal Partner, MAD Architects, said:
“When we were asked to work on FENIX, we knew we had to create a dialogue with the existing building and its surroundings – and with a past containing so many stories of migration, memories, and uncertainty. In designing a new structure, we had to show this dialogue between the future and the past, and so continue the story of the building. The Tornado is all about the future, but it’s rooted in the past. For me, it’s a metaphor for the journeys of migrants who passed through this building.”
photo © Frank Hanswijk
The development of FENIX is supported by the Droom & Daad Foundation. Founded in 2016, Droom & Daad is helping redefine Rotterdam for the 21st century, developing new kinds of arts and culture institutions and fostering new creative talent that reflects the city’s diversity, its spirit and its history. The building has been restored with consultation by Bureau Polderman.
photo © Frank Hanswijk
San Francisco Warehouse, Rotterdam
History of the site
aerial shot from the Rijnhaven and Wilhelminakade showing the buildings of the Holland-America Line. On the right side a part of the Maashaven. San Franscisco Warehouse is in the lower right corner. 1939. Made by KLM Aerocarto. Rotterdam City Archives
The warehouse in which FENIX is located was built by architect Cornelis Nicolaas van Goor and completed in 1923. Known as the San Francisco Warehouse, it was once the largest warehouse in the world. The warehouse served as an important building for storage and shipping for the Holland-America Line – a successful Dutch cargo and passenger line founded in Rotterdam in 1873 which provided steam shipping between the Netherlands and America. Much of Rotterdam was destroyed during World War II. Following bombing and a fire, the warehouse was rebuilt in 1950 as two separate buildings, Fenix I and Fenix II.
The Holland-America Line facilitated the journeys of millions of migrants in the 19th and 20th centuries who arrived and departed from the surrounding docks. It was from the quays around this warehouse that over three million emigrants boarded ships bound for destinations such as America and Canada from the late 19th century, including notable figures such as Albert Einstein, Willem de Kooning, and Max Beckmann. Many of these journeys were facilitated by the Holland-American Line. The departure and arrival of people made Rotterdam the city it is today, one shaped by the more than 170 nationalities of its inhabitants.
Updated 9 November 2023:
FENIX Museum of Migration by MAD Architects
FENIX, a major new museum inspired by stories of global migration, will open on a landmark site in Rotterdam’s City Harbour in 2025.
FENIX Museum of Migration in Rotterdam
The Tornado at FENIX. Artist impression. Designed by MAD Architects
The FENIX Museum of Migration, in Rotterdam, Netherlands
FENIX, artist impression © MAD Architects
FENIX. Artist impression Designed by MAD Architects
FENIX Museum of Migration in Rotterdam
FENIX Museum of Migration Rotterdam images / information received 131120
Previously on e-architect:
24 Nov 2018
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