ARCHITECTUURGIDS.NL / ARCHITECTUREGUIDE.NL

OFFICE BUILDING KPN ROTTERDAM (BELVÉDÈRE)

R. PIANO, 1997-2000, Wilhelminakade 123, Rotterdam

ARCHITECT(URAL OFFICE):
Renzo Piano

ARTIST:
Studio Dumbar

ASSISTING ARCHITECT:
Olaf de Nooyer
J. Moolhuijzen

BUILDING TYPE:
Office buildings


RELATED BUILDINGS:
Wilhelminapier

One of the first projects to grace Wilhelminapier was this 98 metre tall office building designed for KPN Telecom by Renzo Piano. Sitting atop a parking facility, its front facade tilts in unison with the suspension cables of the nearby Erasmus Bridge (A155). This angle of nearly 6 degrees from the vertical equals that of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Shored up by a steel shaft almost 50 metres long, the tilting facade is one big billboard screen illuminated with close to a thousand lights 1.8 metres apart. The prefatory space is fitted out as a piazza.