excursion sustainability Leonidas Erasmus

Sustainable Housing Leonidas and Campus Erasmus University

Rotterdam has initiated a project on the former site of the Leonidas hockey club in the Esch, where private individuals can design and build their own sustainable home. As long as the homes meet the sustainability requiremens of the municipality, plenty of experimentation can be done. This has created a unique part of Rotterdam, with an enormous divisersity of stylers and eco friendly solutions; a real showcase of sustainable architecture.

Erasmus Campus; Within walking distance of this sustainable housing experiment, Erasmus University is also busy ambitiously making its own campus more sustainable and revitalizing. In the past 10 years, an almost completely new, vibrant campus has been created, where the famous “Brutalist blocks” have been overhauld, new buildings have been added and, above all, a completely campus area has been constructed with new paving, level differences, planting and other facilities (supermarket, student housing, catering, sports facilities). It’s now really what a campus should be: everything in one place!

Tip! Combine this toour with our tour program Wijk op Menskracht in Bospolder Tussendijk about the energy transition of Rotterdam.

Type

Walking Tour

Prijs/Duur

€210 ex btw – per guide
2 hours
Max 15 persons per guide

Start Locatie

in consultation

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Garden village Vreewijk

This ‘pretty village’ in the city, located in the Feijenoord district, was built over a hundred years ago as one of the first and largest garden cities in the Netherlands. Together with M.J. Grandpré-Molière and A.J.Th. Kok, in particular architect Pieter Verhagen, took care of the beautiful urban development and green structure of Tuindorp Vreewijk.

In recent years, many homes have been modernized and the streetscape has been returned to its authentic state. In addition, this green oasis in Rotterdam houses the highest density of national monuments. From homes, gardens to school buildings have been awarded this most important title.

UrbanGuides takes you past dwellings, gardens, schools, canals, parks in ‘the garden of Rotterdam’ and discover the power and beauty of one of the city’s most special residential areas.

A visit to the garden village of Vreewijk can always be combined with a lunch or a drink at the historic restaurant Het Witte Paard.

Tip! Discover another amazing neighborhood in the South of Rotterdam named The Kiefhoek.

Type

Walking Tour

Prijs/Duur

€160,- ex VAT
1,5 uur
Max 15 persons per guide

Start Locatie

Groenezoom 245, 3075 GD Rotterdam

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BoTu: Neighborhood on Human Power

Bospolder-Tussendijken, also known affectionately as BoTu, will become Rotterdam’s first climate-neutral neighborhood in 2035. sustainable energy transition. The neighborhood was built a hundred years ago in a period when gas and electricity connections were not common. So the neighborhood is all set, now it is up to us!

How can we use our own energy as efficiently as possible, together with natural power? Travel to the future with us, where the neighborhood once again runs on human power. During this journey we also look to the past, which principles from over a century ago were in fact already sustainable and can be used again?

The neighborhood was built between 1910 and 1935 for workers of the rapidly growing port. In this period of renewal and progress, it was thought that healthy, happy people were more productive. Improving the living conditions of the harbor workers and their families was therefore central in the design of the neighborhood. These concerns resulted in an outdoor space with various squares and wide pedestrian streets, as well as several communal facilities such as the green courtyard gardens, the bathhouse, and the launderette. The pace in the neighborhood was slower than today, all facilities were within walking distance and there was no heavy car traffic yet. Experiments were also carried out within the housing blocks and dwellings to improve the quality of life. For example, houses were laid out efficiently and gradually connected to the gas and electricity networks.

In climate-neutral BoTu, sustainable principles regarding living and life from over a century ago are combined with the most modern techniques. In this future, the combination of manpower together with biomass, wind and solar energy will result in the neighborhood with the lowest energy bill in the Netherlands. A large part of the houses can even be disconnected from the gas and electricity networks!

The House of the Future and UrbanGuides will take you through Bospolder-Tussendijken, to see not only the neighborhood with new eyes, but also the global task of energy transition.

BoTu: Neighborhood on Human Power was created in close collaboration with Huis van de Toekomst, more info on Huis van de Toekomst, see www.huisvandetoekomst.org

Tip! Are you interested in climate excursions? Then be sure to check out our Green City tour.

Type

Walking Tour

Prijs/Duur

€250,00 ex 21% VAT (including visit The House of the Future)
2 hours
15 persons per guide

Start Locatie

Jan Kobellstraat 56a (Huis van de Toekomst)

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Rotterdam Ontrafelt…

With more than 175 nationalities and a population of which more than half has a migrant background, Rotterdam is a vibrant melting pot of cultures, traditions and languages. This diverse city bears the traces of its colonial past, where 1 in 8 Rotterdam residents have ancestors who were once enslaved. A history that continues in the form of contemporary racism, discrimination and exclusion.

Rotterdam Ontrafelt…’ is a guided walking program in the middle of the city and, together with a team of two supervisors, a storyteller and workshop teacher, exposes the structures, backgrounds and references of centuries of colonialism through stories and illustrations. In addition to sharing knowledge, insights and anecdotes, this interactive program is an invitation to conversation to work together on a city where everyone feels at home.

Het Haringvliet (Oude Haven)
Against the historic backdrop of the Haringvliet, UrbanGuides delves into the colonial history of Rotterdam. The area where Rotterdam’s colonial slavery system, especially in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries, came together. Here one found the West India Company, Admiralty on the Maze, sugar refineries, living and working locations of the Rotterdam colonial elite (including the infamous slave trader Jacob Coopstad) and colonial shipbuilding. But the area around the Haringvliet not only benefited, it was also the place where the first Rotterdam protests against this system manifested themselves. In short, an important part of Rotterdam history that tells us a lot about the present.

Land van Hoboken (Museumpark)
The former estate of Anthony van Hoboken, now better known as the Museum Park, represents other episodes of Rotterdam’s long colonial history. Despite other episodes and new systems, such as contract labor and the culture couple, making a lot of money through exploitation remained central. We will follow these hidden and overt traces of colonial history, but there are also other colonial connections to be made in the Museum Park. For example, the various museums in and around the Museum Park house collections that are full of references, stereotypes or works of art and objects from the colonies. How do museums deal with this legacy today? Economy, art and culture and history, it’s all covered in this walk about Rotterdam’s colonial past.

‘Rotterdam Ontrafelt…’ is very suitable for groups who want to enrich themselves with knowledge and insight about the impact of our history on today’s society.

Type

Walking Tour

Prijs/Duur

Price: €350,00 ex 21% VAT (including drinks)
2 hours
20 persons per guide

Start Locatie

Het Haringvliet – Wijnhaven 7-13 (Mariniersmuseum) or Land van Hoboken – Westzeedijk (Kunsthal)

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100 years Housing Crisis!

The excursion 100 years of the Housing Crisis!’ explores Rotterdam’s residential history in an original way and looks ahead towards the future.

According to politicians, the Netherlands currently has to build about 1 million extra homes. How did we, as a nation, get to this point? And how are we going to approach this? And is this all still about how we want to live and for whom?

In the past, the Netherlands has faced a similar task, several times even. With the introduction of public housing at the beginning of the 20th century, after the Second World War and during the famous urban renewal in the 1970s and 1980s. What can we today, learn from the approach and vision of the enthusiastic urban planners, committed architects and, above all, from the involved residents from the past?

The excursion starts at the museum house in the Kiefhoek: the main example of good living for the working class in the 1920s. The tour continues through the South using statements, images and stories about other major moments in housing history to create a shared vision of the future of living in the city.

‘100 Years of Housing Crisis!’ was created in close collaboration with Studio Ruimte; more information about Studio Ruimte see Studio Ruimte

Type

Walking Tour

Prijs/Duur

Price: €250,00 ex 21% VAT (including visit Museumhouse de Kiefhoek)
2 hours
15 persons per guides

Start Locatie

Hendrik Idoplein 2 – Museumwoning de Kiefhoek

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UrbanExplore

Those who are curious like to read a newspaper, scroll through articles, listen to podcasts and have access to an endless amount of documentaries and non-fiction books. The flow of information is endless, but no matter how much you consume, your role only really counts when you become part of a place or conversation.

UrbanGuides realizes how valuable it is to experience important developments in real life and is therefore launching a new tour product: UrbanExplore; interactive programs where participants are inspired to gain a different view of the city and a new perspective on the changing society.

Don’t expect classic tours; UrbanExplore stands for meeting and conversation, for creating awareness by talking to each other about topics that matter. And where better to do this than in Rotterdam, the city that has always been open to experiment, but which has also faced major challenges and still faces the necessary challenges?

With this new program, UrbanGuides focuses on major topics such as climate (energy transition, climate adaptation), housing and the inclusive city and presents these in specific neighborhoods, such as Bloemhof, Bospolder-Tussendijken and the area around the Haringvliet. Together with the group of participants, UrbanGuides digs into history, reflects on the present and looks ahead to the future, in the hope that together they can make even the smallest bit of ‘positive impact’. #toursthatmatter

Fotocredits; Guus Schoonwille

Type

UrbanExplore

Prijs/Duur

check program

Start Locatie

check program

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The Green City

The climate will change dramatically in the coming years. The risk of floods, heat waves and extreme dry periods is increasing. A climate-proof city is a city that is prepared for this. But what solutions do we have for this? And at the same time, how do we ensure that we also live more sustainably in the city? What will our food supply look like in the future, how do we move in a sustainable city and what building materials are used to build new buildings. In short, how do we make the ‘city of tomorrow’ a place where life is pleasant for people and nature.

Join UrbanGuides through the city center of Rotterdam and see how many developments and applications are underway to make the city center of Rotterdam livable and climate-proof. Greening the city, improving water quality, more sustainable construction and better use of the available land. Look with new eyes at the city center that continues to reinvent itself.

To surprise you, we offer The Green City in two different parts of the city center, namely in the oldest part of the city center with the greening of the Grote Kerkplein, the roof plan o f the De Heuvel Building and the spectacular Rif010 with inland water projects such as the fish ladder at the Leuvekolk.

Another interesting part of the city center is the transition area (around Hofplein station) from the center to North Rotterdam, where a lot of experiments are being done with greening and making this raw part of Rotterdam climate-proof. Here we find a series of sustainable projects such as the DakAkker, the Waterplein as a water collection facility in the form of a schoolyard and numerous other green interventions, with the future highlight being a 1.9 kilometer long park on an elevated railway viaduct.

Tip! For more interest in green, circular and sustainable development and construction, the Ecowijk Leonidas and Erasmus Campus excursion is highly recommended!

Type

Walking Tour

Prijs/Duur

€210,- ex 21% btw
2 hours
Max 15 persons per guide

Start Locatie

In consultation

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The Inner City of Rotterdam: from the Markthal to the Laurenskerk

Unfortunately, this program is only available in Dutch.

Type

Walking Tour

Prijs/Duur

On request

Start Locatie

Boek nu

Museumpark: the creative hub of Rotterdam!

For a long time, the Kunsthal formed the final point of the various cultural institutions at the Museum Park, but a new addition has now been added: its brand new neighbor the Depot. With this new collection building of Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, the city not only has a special eye-catcher, it also adds an interesting layer to the way in which art and culture in Rotterdam are made available to the public.

The Museum Park has always been an interesting case in terms of art and cultural institutions. Such as Natural History in the old Villa Dijkzigt and Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, an internationally renowned art collection in a pre-war museum building that is now closed for the construction of a renovated museum building. From Het Nieuwe Instituut, which manages the state archives for architecture and urban planning, to the Kunsthal, a 3,300 m² exhibition space in an icon by Rem Koolhaas. You will also find a modernist villa park including the ultra-modern museum house Huis Sonneveld and the Chabot Museum, a museum for International Expressionism.

Curious? Learn more about how these diverse private collections slowly transferred to well-known Rotterdam museums, and how they ensure the presentation and preservation of art and culture in their own way. During this walk you will discover how this former private property of the Hoboken shipping family grew into the most beautiful park, completely redesigned, planted and connected to new routes in 2024 by the award-winning landscape office Gustafson Porter + Bowman, with the most beautiful museum buildings in the city.

Extra detour: In the vicinity of the Museum Park, two very interesting developments, namely the renovated complex of Erasmus MC with a new Campus (2050) and the beautiful new residential area Little C on the Coolhaven, can be visited to complete the tour in this area.

Tip: If you are strongly interested in the architecture of Dutch modernism, then the walking tour from the Chabot Museum through the gardens of the modernist villa park from the 1930s is highly recommended!

Photo credit: Ossip Duivenbode

Type

Walking Tour

Prijs/Duur

€ 160,- ex. vat per guide
1.5 hour
Max 15 persons per guide

Start Locatie

Museumpark

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The Kiefhoek

Rotterdam is home to quite a few hidden pearls of modernism, most famous one is of course Van Nelle Factory. Many of these can be found just slightly outside the city centre and are thus not always easy to find and explore. The former working-class neighbourhood the Kiefhoek, for instance, is set on the Southbank of the river Meuse, hidden from view by a busy road and a small dyke.

The Kiefhoek is the undisputed highlight of modernism within the context of Rotterdam’s vast collection of social housing projects. It was with this residential area from 1927 that J. J. P. Oud made a name for himself as a modern architect. Oud created a standardized floor plan for the 294 houses that were supposed to be built in Rotterdam-South so that the project would come along rather quickly and, even more important, inexpensive.

The houses were small, but very practically furnished with all kinds of built-in elements, such as cupboards, a small fireplace and a useful coat rack that was, at the same time, serving the purpose of a hat shelf. Oud also made a matching design for several of the neighbourhood’s central facilities, like the two eye-catching shops, a boiler house and a church.

A tour of the Kiefhoek starts at the unique house museum, which gives you a good insight into the history of the architecture and its clever features. The house is set on the edge of the Hendrik Ido square and is only open to groups guided by an Urban- or MuseumGuide. After visiting the house museum, you’ll be exploring the rest of the remarkable project. Along the way, a professional guide will tell you all about this revolutionary urban development project by architect Oud.

Tip! During the Rotterdam Architecture Month and Open Monument Day, the museum house can always be visited as an individual visitor.

There are also other special social housing and garden villages around the Kiefhoek. You can discover these individually via this walking route that UrbanGuides created on behalf of Open Monument Day. It is also very interesting to combine the Kiefhoek with a visit to Garden Village Vreewijk.

Hungry for more Modernism in Rotterdam? Be sure to visit the Van Nelle Factory, located in Rotterdam-West.

Type

Building Tour

Prijs/Duur

€ 125,- ex. VAT per guide
1 hour
Max 15 persons per guide

Start Locatie

Hendrik Idoplein 2

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