From time to time I plan a photography day with a friend of mine. These days we often spend in nature parks in the Netherlands making landscape, nature, wildlife and/or macro photos. But this time we wanted to do some street and city photography in Rotterdam. Not the well known places that everyone takes photos off but more the hidden gems in old harbour quarters. Places that the common tourist or photographer leaves alone. Lets say “off the beaten track” in the city.
RDM
As always, I did some research in the days before our photo trip. But while driving to Rotterdam we decided to take a different road (literally) and ended, by chance, at the RDM wharf.
RDM stands for “Rotterdamsche Droogdok Maatschappij NV”. It was an important wharf for ship building and repairs and it was operational from 1902 until 1996. The most well known ship that was build here was the ss Rotterdam. RDM also built submarines for the Royal Dutch Navy.
It was very impressive to walk around here. A lot of people including me have heard about this wharf which was one of the largest in The Netherlands.
Nowadays at RDM Campus technical education, research centres and companies collaborate on sustainable innovations needed for the Rotterdam economy. In innovation teams and communities of practice students, teachers, professors and entrepreneurs together address concrete practical questions in the field of construction, mobility, product design, maritime and maintenance. (source: http://www.rdmcampus.nl)
Heijplaat
When the RDM wharf was growing they build a village for all the employees because in those days it was a remote part of Rotterdam. This village was Heijplaat. In Heijplaat you see the wharf buildings at the end of the streets.
There can be found a lot of nice architectural details in the village. Like the portal and statue below.
Like everywhere else in Rotterdam one is always close to the harbour.
