De Westersingel – The International Sculpture Route

As mentioned before was Rotterdam titled Cultural Capital of 2001 and for this reason did the Westersingel get a more prominent role in cultural Rotterdam. The Sculpture route that is very popular with the tourists starts from a little further than Central Station and leads to the museum park. Would you love to follow the whole route? Take a look at www.openbarekunst.nl/routes  for the international route or any other sculpture routes through the city.

De singel (=Canal) was created because of the ‘Water project’ from the 19^th century. The plan was designed in 1841 by the architect Willem Nicolaas Rose, who worked together with Jan Arent Scholten. This ‘Water project’ had three functions:

·         Drainage of the rainwater and garbage

·         Dumping of garbage

·         Source of drinking water

This plan was made to prevent any cholera outbreaks that haunted Rotterdam in the 19^th century. These canals would help, because they were connected with the Maas so that enough clean water would be able to flow into the city. Between 1870 and 1900 there were mansions built at the canal. These are still to be seen today, because the Westersingel wasn’t hit by the bombardments.

Seen in cultural sense, the canal got interesting in 19898, when it became part of the sculpture route ‘Sculptures in the City’. This was a large open air exposition throughout the whole city. A few of these sculptures are still part of the current route. A few of these remaining sculptures are: De Kringloop van Frans en Marja de Boer Lichtveld and The Long Thin Yellow Legs of Architecture van Coop Himmelb(l)au.

In the year 2000 and 2001 the canal was renovated. They built a terrace where most of the current sculptures are placed on, hence its name: sculpture terrace. At the moment there are 17 sculptures on the Westersingel and is the perfect walking route for a lovely autumn day!

Would you love to live near the Westersingel in Rotterdam? Check our website DomicaRotterdam!