The former Van Nelle Factory ( nl, Van Nellefabriek) on the

Schie Schie () the name for four waterways in the area of Overschie, South Holland, the Netherlands. There are the Delftse Schie, the Delfshavense Schie, the Rotterdamse Schie and the Schiedamse Schie. The existence of these four streams is the result ...

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte (river), Rotte'') is the second largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the Prov ...

, is considered a prime example of the International Style based upon

constructivist architecture Constructivist architecture was a constructivist style of modern architecture that flourished in the Soviet Union in the 1920s and early 1930s. Abstract and austere, the movement aimed to reflect modern industrial society and urban space, while ...

. It has been a designated

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international coope ...

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for ...

since 2014. Soon after it was built, prominent architects described the factory as "the most beautiful spectacle of the modern age" (

Le Corbusier Charles-Édouard Jeanneret (6 October 188727 August 1965), known as Le Corbusier ( , , ), was a Swiss-French architect, designer, painter, urban planner, writer, and one of the pioneers of what is now regarded as modern architecture. He was ...

in 1932) and "a poem in steel and glass" (

Robertson Robertson may refer to: People * Robertson (surname) (includes a list of people with this name) * Robertson (given name) * Clan Robertson, a Scottish clan * Robertson, stage name of Belgian magician Étienne-Gaspard Robert (1763–1837) Place ...

in 1930).The Van Nelle Factory in Rotterdam is named as Holland’s tenth UNESCO World Heritage Site - Holland.com
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History

The buildings were designed by architect

Leendert van der Vlugt Leendert Cornelis van der Vlugt (13 April 1894 – 25 April 1936) was a Dutch architect in Rotterdam. In the architects office Brinkman & Van der Vlugt he was responsible for the architecture of the Van Nelle Factory, a listed monument of t ...

from the Brinkman & Van der Vlugt office in cooperation with

civil engineer A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing ...

J.G. Wiebenga, at that time a specialist for constructions in

reinforced concrete Reinforced concrete (RC), also called reinforced cement concrete (RCC) and ferroconcrete, is a composite material in which concrete's relatively low ultimate tensile strength, tensile strength and ductility are compensated for by the inclusion ...

, and built between 1925 and 1931. It is an example of ''

Nieuwe Bouwen Dutch architecture has played an important role in the international discourse on architecture in three eras. The first of these was during the 17th century, when the Dutch empire was at the height of its power. The second was in the first half ...

'',

modern architecture Modern architecture, or modernist architecture, was an architectural movement or architectural style based upon new and innovative technologies of construction, particularly the use of glass, steel, and reinforced concrete; the idea that for ...

in the Netherlands. It was commissioned by the co-owner of the Van Nelle company,

Cees van der Leeuw Cees (Cornelis) Hendrik van der Leeuw, (15 March 1890, Rotterdam – 19 May 1973) was a Dutch industrialist and subsequently psychiatrist. He is also noted for commissioning the Van Nelle Factory. He was a representative of the reconstruction of ...

, on behalf of the owners. Van der Leeuw and both company-directors, Matthijs de Bruyn and Bertus Sonneveld, were so impressed by the skills of Van der Vlugt they commissioned him to design and build private houses for themselves in Rotterdam and nearby Schiedam between 1928 and 1932. The fully renovated Sonneveld House is now a museum in the center of Rotterdam, with more than 30,000 annual visitors from all over the world. In the 20th century it was a factory, processing coffee, tea and tobacco and later on additional chewing gum, cigarettes,

instant pudding Instant pudding is an instant food product that is manufactured in a powder form and used to create puddings and pie filling. It is produced using sugar, flavoring agents and thickeners as primary ingredients. Instant pudding can be used in som ...

and rice. The operation stopped in 1996. Initially after the renovation it was known as the Van Nelle Design Factory ("Van Nelle Ontwerpfabriek" in Dutch). More recently, the narrow focus on tenants in the design and architecture sectors has been abandoned and currently the building houses a wide variety of companies and a modern co-working space. Some of the areas are used for meetings, conventions and events. Eric Gude, a Dutch specialist in the conversion of former industrial sites, planned and organized this change of use for the Van Nelle factory in 1997 and introduced Wessel de Jonge, an authority on the renovation of modern architecture in 1999, to coordinate the overall renovation, which began in the year 2000. In 2015, the Van Nelle Factory topped the list of The 25 Most Beautiful Factories in the World.The World's 25 Most Beautiful Factories by CMMS Software Insight
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Architecture

The Van Nelle Factory shows the influence of Russian Constructivism. Mart Stam, who worked during 1926 as employee-designer at the Brinkman & Van der Vlugt office in Rotterdam, came in contact with the Russian Avant-Garde in 1922 in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...

. In 1926 Mart Stam organized an architecture tour of the Netherlands for the Russian artist

El Lissitzky Lazar Markovich Lissitzky (russian: link=no, Ла́зарь Ма́ркович Лиси́цкий, ; – 30 December 1941), better known as El Lissitzky (russian: link=no, Эль Лиси́цкий; yi, על ליסיצקי), was a Russian artist ...

and his wife

Sophie Küppers Sophie Lissitzky-Küppers (1891–1978), born Sophie Schneider, was a German art historian, patron of the avant-garde, author, and art collector. Biography Küppers, née Schneider, was born in Kiel, Germany in 1891, the daughter of Christian a ...

, collector of avant-garde art. They visited

Jacobus Oud Jacobus Johannes Pieter Oud, commonly called J. J. P. Oud (9 February 1890 – 5 April 1963) was a Dutch architect. His fame began as a follower of the '' De Stijl'' movement. Oud was born in Purmerend, the son of a tobacco and wine merchant. A ...

, Cornelis van Eesteren,

Gerrit Rietveld Gerrit Rietveld (24 June 1888 – 25 June 1964) was a Dutch furniture designer and architect. Early life Rietveld was born in Utrecht on 24 June 1888 as the son of a joiner. He left school at 11 to be apprenticed to his father and enrolled at n ...

, and other artists. Sophie Küppers stated that Mart Stam spoke about 'his' factory during that trip. That happened to be the immediate cause for his dismissal. It is claimed that the building featured the first ''industrially

prefabricated Prefabrication is the practice of assembling components of a structure in a factory or other manufacturing site, and transporting complete assemblies or sub-assemblies to the construction site where the structure is to be located. The term ...

'' curtain wall in the world. Rotterdam van nelle fabrieksterrein.jpg, Rear view of the complex Overzicht - Rotterdam - 20349702 - RCE.jpg, The front façade VN5 HDR2.jpg, View from the entrance gate by night Overzicht van de gevel van de fabriek met luchtbruggen met transport-inrichtingen van de tabaksfabriek naar het expeditiegebouw (Schiegebouw) - Rotterdam - 20535959 - RCE.jpg, The four transport bridges Van Nellefabriek Rotterdam 1930 09.JPG, Van Nelle neon lettering seen from inside. Vannelleside.jpg, The side façade VanNelleInside.jpg, Interior

National monument

The Van Nelle Factory is a Dutch national monument (''

Rijksmonument A rijksmonument (, ) is a national heritage site of the Netherlands, listed by the agency Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed (RCE) acting for the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science. At the end of February 2015, the Netherlands ...

'') and since 2014 has the status of

. The Justification of Outstanding Universal Value was presented in 2013 to the UNESCO World Heritage Committee.

References

External links

Company WebsiteUNESCO listing
{{Coord, 51, 55, 22, N, 4, 26, 1, E, source:nlwiki_region:NL_scale:3000_type:landmark, display=title, format=dms Industrial buildings completed in 1931 Buildings and structures in Rotterdam Rijksmonuments in Rotterdam Modernist architecture in the Netherlands World Heritage Sites in the Netherlands