COFO architects has been working for the past month on the design for an art space in the centre of Rotterdam. The project, commissioned by the Field of Dreams Foundation, provides an exhibition space that fully interacts with the city, challenging artists and audience to develop and enjoy a unique art experience.

The design transforms a semi-abandoned factory into a centre for artists with studios for rent, temporary housing for residencies and an exhibition space. The current plans to build a skyscraper on the location in the coming years means that the project has a provisional status. This provides a perfect setting for an affordable and innovative proposal that can experiment more with alternative processes and business models.

The former factory is representative of the reconstruction period of Rotterdam. Its functional grid structure is maintained in the transformative design, which uses the original logistics and vertical circulation route to organise the programme. An active plinth is created by placing the commercial function (a bike-repair shop and a café) on the ground floor, maximising the relationship with the street. The project aims to inject life during the next five years into this backstreet in Rotterdam’s centre.

A pink translucent cube, dubbed Pink Rhino, is the project’s main feature. This eye-catching element is placed on the roof, transforming the building and the street itself. The pink colour acts as a powerful visual attractor, while the translucency allows passers-by to see the interior activity from the street. Its sensitivity to light variations makes it an ever-changing, ever-interesting object.

The Pink Rhino is a simple 10 x 10 x 10 metres structure that can be appropriated by any artist or context. Its integration in the circulation system of the building ensures its correct functioning, while the cube’s size plays with the height variations in the roof, creating a stage with multiple possibilities both for the building and for the street below.

The Field of Dreams Foundation and the other involved stakeholders are currently looking for funding and support for the project.

For more information on Pink Rhino, please contact Guillem Colomer at info@cofoarchitects.com