Within the tangential highway system around Rotterdam's central city, we have projected, in an extremely compact form, Olympic accommodations where a large part of the 2016 Games could be organized. Previous Olympic Games have shown that this strategy works. This holds not just for the event itself, but certainly also for its ancillary function of driving urban development. This last-named aspect is being taken increasingly seriously. A mega-event like the Olympic Games arouses the enthusiasm of people, commerce and politics. It can work wonders for urban restructuring, laying out infrastructure and attracting new additions to the urban programme. The tools used at present are not capable of realizing the enormous ambitions as articulated in the Fifth Report on Spatial Planning. We urgently need to search for new tools, and the Games could do much to stimulate that quest. The aim of this project is to see to it that the event contributes as much as it can to the evolution of city and region.

Organizing the Olympic Games is a unique experience. It is something that happens to the Netherlands not even once in 100 years. So only the best locations will suffice. Rotterdam fits the scale of the Games, and the Games fit into the Rotterdam tradition of festivals and events. One of the best places in the city is the river Maas. Within the perspective of the 2016 Games, we propose Waalhaven as the hub of the Olympic programme. This vast expanse of former docklands along the south bank, which will transform in time into an urban area, could benefit greatly from the boost provided by Rotterdam's role as Olympic host. With a new bridge, an Olympic Village and special functions, this chunk on the right side of the highway will finally belong to the city. It will open up and offer an untold amount of space for urban restructuring. The plan sets great store in attaching the design to the immediate environment. In structure and programme, the scheme slots with great precision into the surrounding existing districts. In view of the enormous scale of the Waalhaven area, this attachment can succeed only if it refrains from overwhelming and weakening the surrounding districts, for these need to be part of the transformation too.

Place of education: AvB Rotterdam
Specialization: urban planning
Tutors: Ronald van Duivenbode, Ernie Mellegers, Rob Groeneweg & Enno Zuidema