Along with 40 other concrete enthusiasts, OMI went on a Brutalist Bustour. Instead of the classic hop-on hop-off sightseeing ride past the Markthal and the Depot, we went on an excursion to the – often underappreciated – icons of concrete. Martijn Haan, co-author of Bruut – Atlas of Brutalism in the Netherlands, and Pieter Kuster and Leyla Hepsaydir of OMI took participants on a tour of Rotterdam. From Hofplein via the Ruit van Rotterdam to the Botlek, with stops at the city’s most brutal buildings.

The tour starts at the Hofpoort, which attracted much criticism when completed in 1976 – the “last erection of big business” – while the skyline is now unthinkable without this office tower. At the top of the tower, overlooking the city, architect Joost Ector (Ector Hoogstad Architects) talks about the original design of the Blakeburg. This imposing concrete colossus was recently saved from demolition and is getting a second life.

The second stop is university campus Woudestein, a unique ensemble of art and architecture. Here, restoration architect and artist Gerard Frishert talks about the renovation and the artworks. The tour continues past De Zonnetrap, where Sofie van Brunschot of Buildings by Women elaborates on the design behind the senior complex, characterized by its generous terraces with concrete planters.

The bus then continues through the industrial science fiction landscape of the Port of Rotterdam to the final stop: the Caland Canal. Here Martijn Haan talks about the Windshields: an enormous brutalist colonnade, which, at 1,750 meters long, is also considered the largest windshield in the world.