Architecture Rotterdam #8: The Euromast, and a full city tour from 185 meters high

On top of the world

Built in 1960, the Euromast is still the highest building of Rotterdam. True, originally it was only 107 meters high. In 1968 the Medical Faculty at the Westzeedijk was built, and was 10 meters higher. Time to grow the Euromast: in 1970 the Space Tower was added and the building is now 185 meters high. It's not only still the highest building in Rotterdam, it is also the tallest tower accessible to public in the Netherlands.

(Almost) 360 degree view from 112 meters high

The Euroscoop platform sits at 112 meters and is where you first get out (after your elevator ride) to take in the view. Whenever I go somewhere high, some place that gives you a view of an area that you usually only get to experience from the ground level - it is always such a pleasant surprise. For one thing, viewing my city from high above like this, it helps to fill the gaps in my city-mind-map. I've walked and biked and driven all over town. The map of the city sitting in my head has been constantly growing since I started to live here one and a half years back. But from up high, it is like the puzzle comes together. How things are connected, how far they are apart, the general appearance the different parts of town have: handed to you on a silver platter. Or a concrete one, in this case.

But most importantly, of course, being up high just allows for amazing views all around!

Watching my city from up high made me realise, again, that I live in my favourite part of town! ;) See the island in the middle of the river Maas, behind the Erasmus bridge (white)? That's Noordereiland!

Angling slightly to the right, you get to see the high rise buildings on Kop van Zuid. Great area to wonder off to, with a lot of amazing architecture and you'll find the Dutch Photography Museum there too.

Angling to the right again, almost facing proper south and right next to Kop van Zuid, is Katendrecht. At the tip of Katendrecht lies the SS Rotterdam, built in 1958 and in business till 2000, now a hotel ship and tourist destination.

Turning away from south to west, you get to see more of the river Maas and in the distance, the Port of Rotterdam. In the front: Delfshaven.

The river Maas, heading out to sea. Port area little bit more visible. For those who didn't know: Rotterdam has the largest port of Europe.

Moving to the right on the platform, now facing west, you get a first glimpse of the residential areas of Rotterdam North, very popular these days.

Angling slightly north again.

Only while putting together this post Irealised that neither me, nor my husband, took any pictures facing north. Both of us just completely forgot to shoot that angle, which has the city's main center and most of the high rise! Too bad.

There is just this one pic, which does show you the Medical Faculty building which was built in 1968. And it actually gives you an impression of how the Medical Faculty is just that bit higher than the original Euromast! The only problem is, it shows my face more than it shows the city, but I hope you'll forgive me and my stare into the distance ;).

The Medical Faculty and a bit of the city's high rise in the back.

Moving up

The 112 meter high platform is great for taking pictures. I can imagine that at times the place is rather crowded. But we found out that the tower is open for visiting till 10 pm, and we went up a bit before sunset. To have better light. And, apparently, to have the place to ourselves.

The platform at 112 meters high

The Space Tower, seen from the platform. Built in 1970, remember. Would you feel comfortable going up?

For the last few weeks, the weather here in Netherlands has been very un-Dutch: only sunny days and high temperatures. This close to sunset however, and especially with the strong wind that blows when you're this high in the sky, I got very chilly. If you ever make it up here at this hour, take your sweater!

Window selfie. I was taking pictures with our Canon G7X.

Husband taking shots with the Nikon D90.

(Full) 360 degree view from 185 meters high

After the platform, you get to go in the Space Tower elevator. It's round, with semi comfortable seats, windows all around, circling as it goes. And in a matter of a few minutes, it takes you up those additional 70 meters, hangs at the top for a bit and takes you down again. The website says there's a voice over telling you 'lovely stories' of the city. I don't really know about that. I actually felt the whole concept of the elevator, the way it goes round, the voice telling the stories, and just the whole feel of the place (including the bathroom facilities) - that is was a little outdated. Which makes sense, right - the thing was built in 1960 / 1970. But then again, it is on the verge of being that much outdated, that it is rather oldschool. You can start to appreciate it for being outdated, but still being intact and preserved and still giving you that awesome perspective on the city. It's probably something of that oldschool quality that got the Euromast on the list of national monuments in 2010.

From the moving elevator, taking pictures was hard. I opted for a video clip. So now you can have that same experience I did while I was on the tower: all the angles coming together, all the blancs filled, to give you a coherent 360 degree perspective of the city of Rotterdam!

The white building which comes into view 8 seconds into the video, is the Medical Faculty built in 1968!

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Architecture Rotterdam

When people talk about the Netherlands, they always mention our capitol Amsterdam, but are much less aware of our second largest city Rotterdam. Which was hit very hard by World War II, and has a lot of modern architecture compared to other Dutch cities. There's a lot here worth your visit, and with these posts I hope to bring it to your attention!

Earlier posts in this series:

• Laurenskerk
• Westermeijer
• Markthallen
• Willemsbrug (Red Bridge)
• Kubuswoningen
• Red Apple

Content created by me (and some pictures from my husband), and Steemit original.
Camera used: Canon G7X and Nikon D90