During the 1980s in Rotterdam a new type of architecture emerged, moving away from a focus on social interaction and human scale, towards a renewed interest in sleek, shiny and abstract design. With it, a new generation of architecture photographers took the stage: Jannes Linders, Hans Werlemann, Sybold Voeten, Ger van der Vlugt, Kim Zwarts and Piet Rook. The work of Rook, a self-taught photographer, played an important role in the polemics around this controversial architecture. His work is dominated by abstract compositions, dark skies, and a strong focus on the geometrical nature of its subject. Devoid of people and life, his work did not receive universal acclaim from his contemporaries. As brand photographer for important architecture firms such as that of Carel Weeber, Jan Hoogstad and Mecanoo, Rook built up a body of work that stands as a document of a turbulent time in Rotterdam history: an era of transformation, of urban renewal, of changing urban identities.
Initiative and curation by historian Paul Groenendijk, photographer Frank Hanswijk and architect Lennart Arpots.
- Part of the Rotterdam Architecture Month
- Accompanying program to be announced.
