These "houses", along with other crazy buildings in Rotterdam are the result of rebuilding the city after being pretty much flattened in world war two. The Germans gave the Dutch an ultimatum, surrender or be bombed. At the last minute, the Dutch surrendered but the messaged didn't make it to the bombers, and they flattened the city.
After the war, the Dutch architects where pretty much given free reign over the city and buildings such as these were built.
In most cases I would agree that these are really ugly bulidings, however when you compare them to the rest of Rotterdam, they fit in quite well. - Terry - tnjbingham.
In his lectures, Jan Gehl, an expert on 'Life Between Buildings' and a professor at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, School of Architecture in Copenhagen, uses pictures of this place as an example of how it shouldn't be done...
Guest
19-May-2006 20:35
OH! How freaky is this!! Great find - perfect in topicality! :) ~ Lonnit