Poppodium Delftsestraat Rotterdam: displayed enclaves in the discontinuous public domain of Rotterdam

In a newly arisen ambivalent district in the centre of Rotterdam the Music Centre has to engage a symbiosis with the contrasting layers in the urban site that surround it. The creative and inspiring setting is present all around it but has taken on different forms; a representative business-like form facing the Schiekade and Weena and a more industrial, eccentric one on the side of the train tracks. The Music Centre has to be both nurtured by, and nurturing its surroundings and at the same time has to find a way to negotiate between the two. The other layer enveloping the Centre is formed by the infrastructural arteries of the Weena and Schiekade, connected by the Hofplein and the train tracks near Rotterdam Central Station. The traffic flows raging around the Centre are partially fenced of by surrounding edifices, but are still perceivable, confirming its location. Pedestrians cross the area on their way from the station to the centre or on their way back to the train. The program results from the disappearance of Nighttown and oncoming disappearance of Lantaren/Venster, which will be moved to the Wilhelminakade in 2009. The removal of these functions from the centre of Rotterdam has left a hole in the music circuit and by that also in its entertainment and leisure facilities and nightlife, especially for the creative class. The music centre finds itself in the collective realm that mediates between institutions and the creative sector, enabling confrontations between the two. The urban layout in which it is located is also based on this notion. The focus in the design is on the confrontations of different parties. The centre is able to house two different events simultaneously which brings about the presence of two different types of artists and two different audiences. Encounters between (and within) these two parties are a point of focus, analogous to the effects of the discontinuous public realm in RotterdamArchitectur