A peek inside the Nederlands Fotomuseum as it prepares for its 2025 opening
The home for the Nederlands Fotomuseum, set on the Rotterdam waterfront, is one step closer to its 2025 opening
The new Nederlands Fotomuseum, set in Rotterdam's wider Rijnhaven dock area, has been rapidly taking shape. The structure, a beloved existing building's redesign and extension by Renner Hainke Wirth Zirn Archtitekten, Hamburg and WDJARCHITECTEN, Rotterdam, is well underway; with its building works now completed and the development focus turning to its interiors. The estimated opening date is in 2025.
Nederlands Fotomuseum: work in progress
The Santos warehouse, the period structure on site which the museum project is breathing a new life into, first opened in 1903. Designed by architects JP Stok Wzn and JJ Kanters, it served as storage for the Brazilian coffee trade.
The new photography museum's home is set to boast eight floors for exhibitions, including space for its own collection, alongside studios, a specialist photography bookshop, education areas, and a rooftop restaurant.
The leisure facilities at the very top promise to offer striking vistas of Rotterdam's skyline, one of the Netherlands' finest architectural ones, including landmark buildings such as UNStudio's Erasmus Bridge and OMA's De Rotterdam.
Come 2025, the institution will officially move from its current location on the Wilhelminapier (where it's been since 2007), to the neighbourhood of Katendrecht, across the water. The new building, funded with the help of the Droom en Daad foundation, was acquired in 2023.
The museum's director Birgit Donker has said: 'We are excited about the completion of the renovation phase and look forward to the opening of our new location in Katendrecht next year. This new chapter allows us to continue our mission to celebrate, explore and promote photography as a powerful medium. '
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
Ellie Stathaki is the Architecture & Environment Director at Wallpaper*. She trained as an architect at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece and studied architectural history at the Bartlett in London. Now an established journalist, she has been a member of the Wallpaper* team since 2006, visiting buildings across the globe and interviewing leading architects such as Tadao Ando and Rem Koolhaas. Ellie has also taken part in judging panels, moderated events, curated shows and contributed in books, such as The Contemporary House (Thames & Hudson, 2018), Glenn Sestig Architecture Diary (2020) and House London (2022).
-
Wall lamps for every room
The best wall lamps and where to find them: elevate your space with our curated edit of sconces and wall-mounted designs
By Ali Morris Published
-
8 innovative gift ideas that’ll transport you in both mind and body
Transport editor Jonathan Bell has assembled eight ways to broaden your horizons this festive season
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
Time For Art 2024: ten unique watches to bid for at the charity auction
The Time For Art 2024 auction sees unique watches go under the hammer at Phillips, in association with Bacs & Russo, on 7 and 8 December
By Thor Svaboe Published
-
We stepped inside the Stedelijk Museum's newest addition in Amsterdam
Amsterdam's Stedelijk Museum has unveiled its latest addition, the brand-new Don Quixote Sculpture Hall by Paul Cournet of Rotterdam creative agency Cloud
By Yoko Choy Published
-
A nest house in the Netherlands immerses residents in nature
Buitenverblijf Nest house by i29 offers a bird-inspired forest folly for romantic woodland escapes in the Netherlands
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
The House Under the Ground is a Dutch home surrounded in wildflowers and green meadow
The House Under the Ground by WillemsenU is a unique Dutch house blending in its green field
By Harriet Thorpe Published
-
Open Park Villa is a minimalist Dutch home embracing its parkland setting
Open Park Villa by i29 architects offers a green residential oasis in a formerly military-owned plot turned parkland
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Câpsula, a series of tiny homes, champions 'living large with less'
Câpsula, initiated by architecture studio i29, brings together tiny homes, wellness and a design-led approach at Dutch Design Week 2023
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Kunlé Adeyemi’s water cities and visions of future living at Het Nieuwe Instituut
‘Water Cities Rotterdam. By Kunlé Adeyemi’ opens at Het Nieuwe Instituut in The Netherlands, offering visions of future living
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Rotterdam house is a sustainable home with a defining timber roof
Terphouse is a green Rotterdam house by Studio AAAN, featuring a distinctive low-slung, timber roof
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
View from the top: Rotterdam Rooftop Walk rises 30m above the city
The temporary installation, a collaboration with architects MVRDV, offers visitors a new perspective of Rotterdam
By Hannah Silver Last updated