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 19th
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 19th 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!
