HOW DID THE CITY CHANGE?
WHAT WAS THIS PLACE BACK THEN?
Cafe Rijke & De Wit
Rotterdam West
Delfshaven is a melting pot of cultures with a rich history. A picturesque medieval harbour is surrounded by lively shopping streets, trend-setting architecture and creative breeding grounds. Experience the dynamics of the water, the ships and the bridges, discover charming neighbourhood parks, cosy terraces and bizarre art … and meet 70,000 residents of 170 nationalities.
CULTURAL DIVERSITY PRACTICE 3 Caterina Zumerle, Lolita Savard , Anya Shah
Process:
move to the left to see more
Reviving Erased Stories
I. Timeline and Research: scroll right
II. Process of making:
Scroll Down
III. Process - storytelling and museum: scroll down
Café Verhip was not always a café, let alone (ver)hip…
The building dates from 1928. First there was a grocery store, but the business was taken over just before the Second World War. It became a pub, and what kind. The café became a real attraction for dockworkers, sailors, hookers and Rotterdammers who had just waved goodbye to their emigrating relatives.
This was followed by two more changes of the guard; for a long time the café was known as Neeleman, after the owner of the same name. In 2006, Danny and Paul became owners, who modernized the business (with respect for its history). Since then the café has been called Verhip. From 2019, Paul has continued alone and it is more fun than ever!
Verhip is located in the middle of the Lloydkwartier. The old port area is now a bustling and hip part of Rotterdam, where many creative people have found shelter. At the same time, the Lloydkwartier still breathes the old harbor atmosphere of the past, with old warehouses and renovated warehouses. That also applies to Verhip: the good of the past, the tasty of today!
text from the website https://verhiprotterdam.nl/
"Het oudste café in Rotterdam-West, op het hoekje van de Nieuwe Binnenweg en de Heemraadssingel. Tot zo!"
photo from their instagram page
https://www.instagram.com/rijkeendewit/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y%3D
MAPS OF ROTTERDAM THROUGHOUT HISTORY
https://rotterdamkaart.nl/kaart-1920/
website: https://en.rotterdam.info/areas-rotterdam/rotterdam-west/
Harbour buildings and creative enterprises in M4H
With the development of the Merwe-Vierhaven area (M4H) into a creative hotbed where ideas are tried and tested, Delfshaven is definitely the place to be. This part of the city was mostly industrial for years, but where the fruit and juice companies used to be, creative enterprise is now allowed to flourish. After artist Joep van Lieshout (with his artist driven playground Brutus), designer Daan Roosegaarde also established his ‘dream factory’ here. To do: visit the Floating Farm, a floating barn where cows relax and ruminate, take a walk through the Dakpark, a beautifully landscaped green area with a view over the port and end the day with a drink on the largest terrace in Rotterdam at Weelde or visit one the largest independent breweries in the Netherlands for a cold beer: Stadshaven Brouwerij Rotterdam.
The New York Hotel
before it was named the 'Holland America Line' (1896)
1917 After a second tower was built in 1917, a new facade was added to the shape we now know as Hotel New York.
1971 Due to increasing competition from the aviation industry, HAL decides to end the timetable to New York and concentrates more on cruise shipping from America.
1977 The HAL moves to Seattle.
1984 The HAL sells the administration building to a project developer.
1988 In 1988 squatters take possession of the building. A year later, the municipality of Rotterdam decides to buy it for 26 million guilders.1993 On Wednesday, May 5, Hotel New York is officially christened by smashing a bottle of champagne against the facade.
1993 The Water Taxi is established for better accessibility of Hotel New York.
1996 Opening of the Erasmus Bridge, which directly connects the center and the Wilhelminapier and accelerates the development of the Wilhelminapier.
2001 The well-known Rotterdam hospitality entrepreneurs Aryan and Willem Tieleman take over the exploitation of Hotel New York.
2001 Jef Wall's 'Lost Luggage Depot' monument is unveiled. The batch of suitcases in a rack symbolizes the departure of hundreds of thousands of emigrants, who once embarked on a new future from this place.
picture of the New York hotel now
The evolution of the harbor in the netherlands
https://porteconomicsmanagement.org/pemp/contents/part2/changing-geography-of-seaports/evolution-port-rotterdam/
https://www.google.com/search?q=old+railway+map+of+rotterdam&rlz=1C5CHFA_enUS935US935&sxsrf=ALiCzsbTHK
3fBnd5PaSnpCdO_4rWRs9lrg:1670340598437&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjm6JfQp-X7AhXB2qQKHf8dBRIQ_AUoAXoECAIQAw&biw=1440&bih=741&dpr=2#imgrc=ZLQsQB
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Process: Figuring out the pamphlet, the format, and how to put together the old verses new places. As well as how to incorporate the map.
We wanted to create something that resembled a travel guide, something that showed you what the places that tied together these sailors stories were, and what they have become now... erased stories. Our intrigue from the maps was what brought the idea of the travel pamphlet because you unfold and open up a map, and we could tie this together with the specific locations and the photographs.
Ideas, thinking about what we wanted to focus on and form.
Immersive Research: VerHip
This was essentially the first meeting that we had all of us as a group. We met at the bar and immediately sat down to get a beer. We started looking at the little cards on the table to see if they had any information about the history of the bar. We were sitting outside and asked one of the waiters about the owner. They immediately pointed us out and mentioned to the owner that we were interested in talking to him.
He came out immediately excited and we got right into talking to him, kind of a combination of storytelling and an interview. He told us about who owned the bar before him (he had bought it 16 years before) and have us more information about what the area was before. There was a train that ran right behind the bar, and he told us about a 97 year old woman who he pointed out he had a photograph with her from just a week before, and from when she was very little. He then talking about all of the old photographs which we had not really noticed from outside the bar, and we began documenting. We just took as many photos as we could, of the people, the bar menus, and all kinds of other documentation of the history of the people and bar.
He was super enthusiastic to tell the story, and it was amazing to talk to the person this place had been passed down to.
Immersive Research: Mariteum Museum
We thought, especially because none of us had ever been to this museum before, that we should explore and see if there were stories about the old sailers, the old harbor, or about the areas in Rotterdam that connected with the sailors. Although we may not have found stories from the sailors, being in the museum was an amazing way to generate ideas. There were many kinds of maps, old and new. They often compared the old sailors with the new ones to show the way things changed, but also how they have stayed the same. It was very interactive and we also had a lot of fun thinking in the mindset of the sailors was very beneficial for our idea development.
We will make an unfold-able booklet that will show the locations of The New York Hotel, Pub Verhip, and the old Harbor of Rotterdam. These locations will be show in contrast of what they once were and what these places have become. These locations are not vanished, but their history is also not always on the surface. We want to bring back what they once were to tell the stories and show the pathways of Rotterdam through the lens of the sailors in the early 1900's.
Above you can see a bit of a draft layout inspired by a pintrest model of a foldable brouchour. We thought this layout would work for pairing the old vs new. We then would have a map that unfolds on the backside, so when you flip it over you have a larger overveiw of the vity and these landmarks.
All of us really resonated with the tour of Katendrecht we had in the beginning of the lessons because these locations, this culture and places had been erased, and without someone to tell the story we would not have known about the past life of this area. This was something we all connected with, and thought that we could take with us. This led to brainstorming about these relics of Rotterdam, the places that survive the war and the changing climates of Rotterdam over the past century.
We met all together for the first time at Pub Verhip in the west of Rotterdam. This pub had been around since 1928 and we figured that it would be best to just go there, and see what we could learn. By being in the environment we were able to speak with the owner, who could tell us stories about the history of this location. He was able to give us more insight regarding the area, and the structure of the area, for example there was a train that ran behind the bar before the war. We were interested in how the demographic had changed and what the demographic once was. Then our focus grew on the sailors. the demographic that had been there before, this location was a meeting point before leaving.
We then generated more ideas about locations, and since none of us had been to the Mariteum Museum, and our focus drew more toward the sailors stories. The museum led us to think more about maps, about how to incorporate different forms and ways of interacting with this topic which was a lot of what this museum did. They had a section about the history of the harbor and how it came to be, they also had a section with a huge map of Rotterdam which you could walk over, and they also played a bit with the new and old stories of the people of the Harbor using portraits of real sailors from a hundred or so years ago, and people from today. This in general gave us a lot of ideas, and I think is what made us most interested in working with the maps.
Through a lot of more immersive and locational research, we generated a lot of ideas, and also recognized how often we passed by these places and never really looked deeper into them,
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Process of brainstorming, and overall interest in topic.
II.PROCESS OF MAKING
III.Process - storytelling and museum
We wanted to use a material, one that both connected us to the sailors, and to our practice. We found a pair of water proof pants, and thought to renovate them into pockets to put the guides. This would be for the viewers to have something water proof to take the map in, and to also connect with the materials the sailors themselves were using.
Brothels -Katendrecht
Delistraat
Katendrecht is also a former municipality that existed until 1874. It is located as a peninsula between the Rijnhaven and Maashaven . The district has an area of 1.18 km² with 4,760 inhabitants. In the twentieth century it was for a long time the most famous prostitution area of Rotterdam with many entertainment venues for sailors. The neighborhood's nickname is De Kaap .
In the seventies and eighties, there was an increasing opposition to the growing nuisance of the red light district. Over the years, however, the character of prostitution changed. The number of sex clubs grew, there were more pimps (and especially from outside Rotterdam) and the atmosphere hardened. End of 1972 there were approximately 121 brothels and together about 385 prostitutes who offered their services.
https://historischkatendrecht.wordpress.com/prostitutie/
https://rotterdaminside.wordpress.com/residentsinside/