Gebruiker:Mpdiederix/Kladblok

1. Blijdorp subway station.

The Blijdorp subway station is a station along subway line E of the RandstadRail and the subway system of Rotterdam. The station lies in the the district Blijdorp along the Statenweg. The station lies 18 meters below street level and is therefore the deepest subway station of Rotterdam. During the construction, two, forty meter high walls were constructed in the ground on both sides of the station allowing workers to remove the soil without lowering the groundwater level. On the 16th of August the station was officially opened although in the first year only one of the two metro tracks was used because the tram tunnel was not finished on time. Every 10 minutes a metro stops, heading in both directions

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2. History

On the site were now the metro station is situated was in 1787 the location of a water pump station with one of the first steam engines designed by James Watt. On the 8th of September 1787 the engine was used for the first time. In 1800 the water pump station was removed and between 1931 and 1940 the district Blijdorp was constructed in the so called, Blijdorpse polder. In the Blijdorp district the famous Blijdorp zoo is situated. During the second world war de Blijdorp district was not affected by the 1940 bombardment, therefore you can still find architecture from the same time the district was constructed.

3. Architect

Architect Maarten Struijs has been a architect for the public works department since 1981. As an architect he has been involved with several important projects in Rotterdam, such as; police stations, the Rookgasreiniger along the Doklaan. But also several infrastructural project such as the windscreen along the Caland canal and Metro station tussenwater. Maarten Struijs studied architecture at the Academy of Architecture from 1970 until 1981 and worked for studio 8. In 1975 he proposed a new design for the Eendreachtsplein for the design competition of the Rotterdam Art Foundation. Since 1981 he worked for the Rotterdam Academy of Architecture.

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4. Design

The in 2010 retired architect Maarten Struijs was the municipality architect for almost thirty years. He designed all metro station for the RandstadRail in Rotterdam. For Blijdorp’s metro station he chose materials like polished marble and steel because he wanted the station the be easily maintained. The roof and the side walls are being clad with green marble. The marble has been polished to create a reflective surface. The ceiling is made out of stainless steel. Visitors can reach the stations by escalator, elevator and staircase. Because of the depth in which the station is located, three escalators are needed to reach the station. On the walls of the main core the architect used the same marble as on the outside. On the steps of the staircase he used a green granite to prevent people from slipping. The first staircase leads to a sub level containing technical spaces. The spaces that are not visible from the control room are being watched by camera’s. From the station visitors have a clear view at the side walls which are constructed out of clean concrete.

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5. Rotterdam Architecture prize

On December the 21th the Rotterdam Architecture prize was given to the Blijdorp metro station. According to the jury, consisting out of Aryan Sikkema, Robert-Jan de Kort, (SUMoffice), Jan Pesman (Cepezed), Annette Marx (Marx & Steketee) en Dirk Somers (Bovenbouw), utilitarian aspects were in Rotterdam of great inportancefor constructing the urban fabric of Rotterdam. This because of the big scale of the city, the clear presence of the harbor and the visibility of infrastructure in the city.