Architecture aficionados will be astounded by this peninsula. The world’s most famous stars of architecture have erected buildings here. Álvaro Siza, Renzo Piano, Francine Houben, Norman Foster – and Rotterdam’s own Rem Koolhaas. His soaring De Rotterdam complex is the most striking edifice. The three linked towers are nearly 150 metres high, forming a ‘vertical city’ of high-class flats, a 4-star hotel, offices, shops, restaurants, fitness and parking facilities.
Amidst all those gleaming high-rise towers, several buildings still recall an era when throngs of European passengers departed from this spot, heading off to America on steamboats. The Cruise Terminal is one example, where the most majestic cruise liners now drop anchor. Another is the famous Hotel New York, where robust nautical elements still offer echoes of all those migratory continentals.
Several old warehouses and a number of newer buildings now house cultural institutes and restaurants. With the arrival of the Nederlands Fotomuseum, the LantarenVenster arthouse cinema and the Luxor Theater, the Kop van Zuid peninsula has become a veritable hotbed of culture.
