David Pronk Photography / Blog » Architectuur

Rotterdam – The essence of architecture

David Pronk — Sun, 15 May 2011 21:32:55 +0000

Rotterdam is the city where i was born and raised, and i’ve lived there for nearly 15 years, before moving to Dordrecht and eventually to Amersfoort, so you can imagine that i will always remain to have a big connection with this modern and dynamic city. A city with a rich past and present, reconstructed in a new way after the WWII bombings in 1940. The city is unique for being a city with influences from many cultures around the world, mainly for having one of the biggest ports in the world.

The recently completed Maastoren, is currently the highest building in the Benelux.

The city is literally a playground for architects and building styles, famous examples are the Erasmus Bridge by architect Ben van Berkel, the Cube Houses by Piet Blom and the Delftse Poort by architect Abe Bonnema.

For me as a photographer, especially for someone who loves architectural photography, Rotterdam is the place to be. The modern city offers a perfect playground for many compositions and viewpoints, and is a great place to explore many modern building styles, from Post-Modernism to Structural Expressionism.

With the new area of the ‘Kop van Zuid‘ being expanded, including a new masterplan from world famous architect Rem Koolhaas, my eyes are open to these new developments. The recently completed Maastoren is currently the highest building in the benelux, but i think it will only be a matter of time before this status is surpassed by a new high-rise building.

‘Rotterdam – The essence of architecture’ is my third collection of photographs about Rotterdam. I am currently exploring the city’s main elements that contribute to the modern and liberal nature that has formed the city and it’s massive growth. But i’m also trying to define the main purpose of the architect when designing a building. What is purpose of the construction in relation to it’s surroundings and the people who are going to take use of the building. Can these modern buildings reflect the history and future of Rotterdam? That is the fundamental question in this series of photographs.

You can view these photographs on Flickr or in the slideshow below:

Rotterdam Panorama

David Pronk — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 22:50:35 +0000

This panorama of Rotterdam is composited out of 19 photo’s taken last saturday. You can click on the panorama for a larger view.

You can download the large version(14652 by 1923 pixels) here: http://davidpronkfotografie.nl/Rotterdam%20Panorama%20Zuid%20Volledige%20Resolutie.jpg

For a description of some of the buildings featured in the panorama you can view the photo on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/davpronk/5390770739/

Beeld en Geluid Hilversum

David Pronk — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 15:32:35 +0000

Last saturday i visited the Beeld en Geluid Institute in Hilversum, The Netherlands, which is a interactive exposition about media and television and contains 700,000 hours of audiovisual material, which goal is to preserve the rich audiovisual history of The Netherlands.

The institute’s building is also an architectural eyecatcher, the many facades of color and straight lines offer unique views and amazing perspectives. The building is designed by Neutelings Riedijk Architects, who also designed buildings like the Scheepvaart en Transport College in Rotterdam.

You can view my photographs of the Beeld en Geluid Institute in the slideshow below:

Architecture in Eindhoven, The Netherlands

David Pronk — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 21:21:00 +0000

Eindhoven is called the “lichtstad” (city of lights) and not without a reason: it’s the city where Philips started their business in 1891, manufacturing the first light bulb. Eindhoven combines a subtle mix of historic and modern architecture, like the “lichttoren” (light tower), which was a former lightning factory owned by Philips. Nowadays it houses an hotel and apartments.

I had the chance to shoot a series of photographs in this great city in the southern part of the Netherlands.