During the ‘Opbouwdag’ lecture in the large auction room, the past and future of the Citrus Auction and the M4H area will be discussed.

Completed in 1955, the citrus auction, designed by architect Hugh Maaskant, was described as a ‘small palace’. This striking building in the Merwe-Vierhavens showed Rotterdam’s position as an important centre for the import and transit of citrus fruit. Nowadays, the building has been empty for quite some time and the district M4H is to be transformed drastically.

Michelle Provoost [Crimson Historians and Urbanist & author of the biography ‘Hugh Maaskant Architect van de Vooruitgang’] will speak about Maaskant and this building within his oeuvre. Michal Dlugajzyk and Mahaut Dael [architectural firm MD-2] will talk about their findings and the methodology within the studio concerning this building which they teach at the Rotterdam Academy of Architecture. Annette Matthiessen [urban planner at the municipality of Rotterdam] will then discuss the history and new plans for the M4H area. Finally, Thomas Verbrugh [De Mannen van Schuim] will end the evening with an explanation of the new plans for the transformation of the building into a ‘Citrus Club’.