The stadskontor - literally, the "city bureau" - will be located next to the main building of the city administration, a monumental building from the beginning of the 20th century, one of the few buildings in Rotterdam that survived the bombing of World War II. The building - the task of the competition will be erected on the site of the later building of the town hall and will include its part of the early 1950s, forming the letter L in the plan. Only the 1977 addition, which the municipal authorities consider ugly and inconvenient, will be demolished. In return, they hope to receive a project that speaks "bold and ambitious" architectural language, which would become a source of pride for the residents.
Now the center of Rotterdam is experiencing a "second renaissance": almost completely rebuilt in the post-war period, now it has lost its former attractiveness as a place of work, living or recreation. Therefore, in recent years, a comprehensive program for the reconstruction of this area has been implemented with an emphasis on public spaces. Construction of the Stadskontor is one of the steps in this direction.
An idea competition with the same task was held back in 2002, and five workshops invited to participate in the current architectural competition were guided by the projects of its winners. These are OMA bureau (together with abt), SeARCH (with Christian Müller), Meyer en van Schoten (with architectenbureau Fritz restorers), Claus en Kaan, as well as Mekano (in collaboration with the workshops Kassmann.deJong and Wubbo Ockels).
Their projects will first be put up for voting by the townspeople, but the winner will still be determined by a professional jury in October this year.
