The Sax of Rotterdam

MVRDV won the competition for The Sax, a 51-floor mixed-use tower which will be the latest addition to Rotterdam’s renowned Wilhelminapier development. The scale and character of the developments of Wilhelminapier over the last decade have contributed to a recognisable city silhouette with an ensemble of towers populating the Kop van Zuid skyline. The Sax will be the latest addition to Rotterdam’s skyline thus contributing to the city’s now recognizable ‘Manhattan on the Maas.’ 

Rotterdam - the second largest city in the Netherlands - is not much alike the ancient settlements of continental Europe. It was almost destroyed during the Second World War, but the townspeople decided not to restore most of the buildings, but rebuild the city, which served as fertile ground for bold architectural and urban experiments.

The two largest cities in the Netherlands - Amsterdam and Rotterdam - seem like antipodes. The city on Amstel is dotted with a network of narrow canals with small bridges and picturesque houses along the embankments - as for the Rotterdam is cut by the wide river Nieuwe Maas and built up with modernist towers. The city with the largest European port, is the center of machinery manufacturing and a large transport hub, and at the same time a comfortable environment for both businesspeople and representatives of creative professions.

Full content of this issue you can read here

The full version of the article can be read in our printed issue, also you can subscribe to the web-version of the magazine

Materials provided by MVRDV
Architectural Visualizations: MVRDV and WAX Architectural Visualisations