From memories and history to dreams of the future and visions of utopia. Building Bridges invites you on a journey through the past, present and future of De Esch: a landscape full of variety and strong contrasts. The exhibition takes you skipping through time, guided by photo series, film fragments, historical logbooks and drawings. At the same time, contemporary writers and artists paint a vivid picture of the area today and of the people who live there. The immediate backdrop is the much-debated proposal for a ‘third city bridge’ across the River Maas, the latest in a long tradition of efforts to bind together Rotterdam’s northern and southern banks. Before that future unfolds, Building Bridges turns its gaze to the existing cityscape. In collaboration with residents, architects, artists and photographers, the project delves into the rich and layered history of De Esch. 

This area is a patchwork of very different zones, with relationships that have only just begun to be explored. From the Oude Plantage, Rotterdam’s first city park, to the business parks of Brainpark and Rivium with their self-driving Parkshuttle, the story of De Esch is one of constant change. In the 1980s the municipality transformed the former DWL industrial site into a new residential district, where industrial heritage, futuristic housing and the pioneering live-work community Utopia could coexist. Over time, the green spaces were preserved, and still today the nature reserve, allotment gardens and city beach shape the character of the landscape.

During the exhibition, a diverse program invites you to explore De Esch. Today and in a possible future. You can discover everything about the landscape: from river connections and water management to urban and cultural development. Or investigate the differences and similarities between the various neighborhoods of De Esch with architect Anna Fink and artist Merel Smitt.

In the years ahead, fresh ideas and plans will continue to reshape the Maas riverbank. How do these proposals connect with the past? What do they say about our present moment? And how might earlier visions inspire the future of the city? Building Bridges encourages residents and visitors, as well as policymakers and developers, to see the existing city in a new way: by exploring, experiencing, and imagining it.