We are talking about the Phoenix warehouse, more precisely, Phoenix II, on the Katendrecht Peninsula, in the past - part of the port of Rotterdam. The historic building of 1922 was originally called "San Francisco" and was one of the largest warehouses in the world (length - 360 m). It served the communication between the Netherlands and the United States, which is reflected in the name; Millions of Europeans emigrated from the nearby pier.
During World War II, the warehouse - like the whole of Rotterdam - was practically destroyed to the ground by bombing, but after the war it rose from the ashes - already in two parts, "Phoenix I" and "Phoenix II". Towards the end of the century, due to the shift to container shipping, warehouses were abandoned, but now the area - like many other former European harbors - is experiencing a second heyday. The first "Phoenix"
now it is being rebuilt: it itself will house a cultural center, and a residential complex will be erected above it.
Phoenix II acquired the Droom en Daad Foundation: the Museum of Emigration FENIX will open there, and the MAD Bureau will connect the first and second floors and the roof of the building with a spectacular staircase leading to an observation platform with views of the Vilhelminapir district and the city center, but especially the Mas River and the famous port of Rotterdam. Foundation Director Wim Peibes said: “FENIX will be a milestone for all those millions of people who left Europe from the banks of the Mas River, and for everyone who arrives today. He will present a great future to the Rotterdam past. The restoration of the warehouse and its transformation into a museum will be handled by the Bureau Polderman workshop.
The choice of the Chinese architectural bureau for the observation deck was not accidental: it was also determined by the history of the city. This place was one of the oldest Chinatowns in Europe, it was here that people came to smoke opium at the beginning of the 20th century, and the first Chinese restaurant in the Netherlands was opened here. MAD founder Ma Yansong and his colleagues also emphasize that the site for FENIX is the first public cultural structure in Europe by a workshop from the PRC.
