Making City
Crowdfunding appeal: 5th International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam (IABR)
January 01 2012 - December 31 2012
To ensure that our cities can convey us to a sustainable future, we must design, plan and govern them better. That is the message of the 5th International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam (IABR): Making City. It is in this context that architecture firm ZUS is tackling Rotterdam’s Central District. This is the area between the Central Station, Weena and Pompenburg. Under the motto ‘I Make Rotterdam’, ZUS is calling on all Rotterdammers to contribute to the development of their city.
Bridge over Hofplein
The area around Hofplein in the centre of Rotterdam was once a bustling district but is now dominated by speeding traffic. To give pedestrians more space again, ZUS is building a temporary pedestrian bridge here in a project entitled I Make Rotterdam. This will reconnect the city centre with the northern districts. Called Luchtsingel (Dutch for ‘raised promenade’), the bridge will be largely completed by April 2012 and is just the first step in the plan to make Hofplein a lively pedestrian area once more.
Crowdfunding
Luchtsingel is being realised through crowdfunding, i.e. funding by the crowd. Everybody can get involved in erecting this bridge. Participants pay a contribution in exchange for having their name written on a plank, piece or component of the bridge. Some 17,000 planks are needed to construct Luchtsingel, and work starts in February. The length of the bridge depends on the number of planks purchased.