The City

From the exterior appearance the Kunsthal looks like a common rectilinear museum. Once you explore the building and start experiencing the spaces the real genius of the project is exposed. Ramps have been used to create a continuous circulation path that crosses through the center of the building. There is a mixing of several different types of structural systems that are exposed along this path that add to the richness and complexities of the design. These spaces seem to melt into one and other creating an uninterrupted identity amongst the variety of forms and materials. Koolhaas has packaged a cultural experience of the city of Rotterdam into the museum. People visit the museum park and become part of the experience for the other visitors. The visual connections of the spaces often frame the experience only when people occupy them. The city becomes captured in an interpretation of the complexities of the architecture and its interaction with the viewer.