Concrete Colossus
Rotterdam / The Netherlands /Delft University of Technology
1637
In a future where earth’s fossil fuels are depleted and car-dependency is eradicated, some of Rotterdam’s highways will turn to desolate memorials of a past to be left behind. The asphalt, guardrails, streetlights and concrete pedestals for fly-overs will be left like ruins of a lost empire. In 2100’s Rotterdam, mobility is a fully shared amenity that needs less space that the highways do now. Parking is done in the periphery, but access to the city is through public transport. Many of the highways will be rendered useless, and perhaps removed. This process is already starting now: Rotterdam has plans to remove the existing A20 highway in the near future. What if heavy car-infrastructure inside the city is no longer necessary? What do we do with the infrastructural monuments that are being left behind in the city? These concrete pedestals remind us of a past that was harmful to our air, our planet and our bodies. We see potential in transforming these objects into monuments, strengthened by the nearness of a natural counter-monument that contrasts the brutality of these structures.
