An open-air semi-circular theatre will be located on the top floor, while the second floor will feature a landscaped terrace decorated with a yellow seagull sculpture designed by Ma. A large red neon sign of the building's name, Danshuis, will face the Maas river.
Rotterdam Center for Dance, Danshuis by MAD Architects. Rendering by Proloog.
Rotterdam Center for Dance, Danshuis by MAD Architects. Rendering by Proloog.
Project description by MAD Architects
Through this latest major cultural project, the Droom en Daad Foundation aims to make the city of Rotterdam a world leader through art and culture. The Danshuis transforms the old warehouse on the south bank of the Mas River Rotterdam into a symbol of freedom and pluralism. A vibrant place for the exchange of world dance culture, it will echo the adjacent "Fenix Museum of Migration," MAD’s first European cultural project, which together realizes and strengthen the connection of the cultural fabric of the city.
MAD Architects has retained the original warehouse structure while introducing a number of iconic design gestures to express the pursuit of freedom and pluralism. Ma Yansong designed a yellow seagull sculpture on the landscaped terrace on the second floor of the Danshuis along with red neon signs facing the river. In the middle area of the top floor, MAD designed an open-air semi-circular theatre in a nod to the Ancient Greek gathering spaces for the free public to come together through a shared love for the arts. Animated by the dancers in the orchestra pit, the classicism of this performance space masterfully contrasts the contemporary backdrop of the rapidly changing scenery along the Mas River Rotterdam.
In the Danshuis, people will feel the outdoors from within, the flow of dance and music in the process of watching and being watched, and the free transmission of art through tangible and intangible forms.
