Rotterdam not only has a lot to offer architecturally. The port city also has some exciting culinary concepts. Our Academy winner Alexandra set out to find out how industrial charm and culinary delights come together. Two food halls in Rotterdam seduced her in very different ways. What used to be called food is now food […]
Rotterdam not only has a lot to offer architecturally. The port city also has some exciting culinary concepts. Our Academy winner Alexandra set out to find out how industrial charm and culinary delights come together. Two food halls in Rotterdam seduced her in very different ways.
What used to be called food is now food – food hall, food factory, food docks. All these terms describe a concept that combines feasting and architecture and celebrates the experience itself.
In contrast to a traditional market hall, meals are prepared directly in these food halls. Food halls are now part and parcel of a large city and are considered alternative and modern. In most cases, industrial buildings are repurposed, whether temporarily or with a long-term vision. The flair of the industrial, raw warehouses makes the food taste completely different. Rotterdam has two concepts of this kind to offer: the Food Hallen and the Fenix Food Factory – a comparison.
If you walk south across the Erasmus Bridge, you come to the Wilhelminapier, with its famous skyscrapers. At the foot of De Rotterdam by OMA and the “New Orleans” residential building by Alvaro Siza are the “Food Hallen” in the “Pakhuismeesteren”, as the listed building is called. Exotic goods from Asia and India used to be stored here. Today, exotic dishes are prepared here. On the first floor, a large hall houses the many stalls offering all kinds of food. It looks elegant and sophisticated, yet edgy and rough at the same time. The furniture and stalls stand out from the uneven brickwork thanks to their modern and shiny materials. Polished wooden surfaces and elegant marble counters shine against the gray concrete walls. The subdued light inside creates a cozy atmosphere. The building was given large glass bay windows that illuminate the first floor of the “food halls” and attempt to open it up to the outside.
Nevertheless, “Food Hallen” is an introvert. Because the eating and enjoying takes place deep inside and the gourmets sit at the windows, watching the hustle and bustle on the street. The visitors themselves are almost invisible.
If you walk a little further south, past the Hotel New York on the Katendrecht peninsula, you will see another gourmet temple. The old Fenix I and Fenix II warehouses stand parallel to the canal. While Fenix I is already being converted into a new residential complex, Fenix II exudes an atmosphere of raw transience. The “Fenix Food Factory” still has space in the old, repeatedly destroyed and rebuilt warehouses until 2020. After that, the building will be put to mixed public use. A museum, a viewpoint and gastronomic offerings will line the riverbank.
A completely different aura surrounds the “Fenix Food Factory”, something between DIY and shabby chic. Colorful tables, a barbecue trolley and terracotta-colored seating cubes define the outdoor areas. People mostly eat outside, facing the water and with the Rotterdam skyline as a backdrop. If necessary, on the ground, along the canal The “Fenix Food Factory” makes a very extroverted appearance and occupies both the waterfront and the small Deliplein square on the other side of the building.
“Food Hallen” and “Fenix Food Factory” are both places where young and old meet and enjoy themselves together. While you can devote yourself entirely to food in the belly of the “Food Hallen”, seeing, being seen and the effect of the city become the theme of the Fenix Food Factory. Both industrial halls were redesigned with a similar and simple idea and yet have breathed completely different life into the old docks.
All images by Alexandra Tishchenko
The Baumeister Academy is an internship project of the architecture magazine Baumeister and is supported by GRAPHISOFT and BAU 2019.
