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Rotterdam Rooftop Walk
A month of spectacular sights: experience Rotterdam from above from 26 May to 24 June 2022 during the Rotterdam Rooftop Walk. Cross the famous Coolsingel using a specially made air bridge and walk from roof to roof. The air route also shows how rooftops can contribute to a better future for cities.
Events on rooftops are no new feat for Rotterdam. However, 2022 will see more people than ever visit the city’s ‘roofscape’. Besides the popular annual festival, Rotterdam Rooftop Days presents the Rotterdam Rooftop Walk. The route covers different rooftops within the city centre and connects iconic buildings on the Coolsingel. The design is a collaboration with MVRDV Architects. Visitors can cross a specially designed air bridge across the city’s best-known street for a full month (the first visitors will take to the roof on Ascension Day). But
the experience features much more than unique sights alone. While walking across and between rooftops, visitors can experience how innovative rooftop use will contribute to a brighter future for cities worldwide. Rotterdam features over 18 km2 of roofscape, mostly unused. While the walk takes visitors to great heights, admission prices will be low: adults pay a small amount and children can visit for free.
The future of roofs and cities
Together with the municipality of Rotterdam and many more partners, the organisation presents this large event next to their existing rooftop festival. Companies and NGOs will show their latest rooftop innovations in green roofs, energy transition, water retention, rooftops as public space and more. Together with contributions from the arts and sciences, these will form a manifestation of innovative rooftop use and a future vision for cities utilising their roofscape to the fullest. This programme addresses many of the great challenges facing cities in the near future. From shielding inhabitants from the effects of climate change, to creating safe and vibrant public spaces in ever-crowding urban areas.
Following tradition: sky-high designs
The Rotterdam Rooftop Walk will take place during the annual Rotterdam Architecture Month. The month celebrates the innovation and quality of architecture in the city with festivals, exhibitions and more. The design builds on a tradition of large audience events and designs at great heights in the city, such as ‘The Stairs’ in 2016. This design from MVRDV was realised as a temporary intervention during ‘Rotterdam celebrates the city!’, the manifestation commemorating 75 years of rebuilding since the WW2 bombing. But the tradition even goes back into the last century , with examples such as a cablecar running right through the city (C70 in 1970) and the construction of the Euromast for the Floriade in 1960.
