Fifteen years in the making, De Rotterdam is the largest building in city for which it was named, and was fashioned by design firm OMA as its own kind of "vertical city." Rem Koolhaas' Rotterdam-based studio put the finishing touches on the interconnected three-tower complex in November of last year, which hosts apartments, offices, hotels, and shops, making good on that promise about as well as a mixed-use urban development can hope to. The smallest units in the building—measuring 60 square meters, or about 645 square feet—were also planned to work in many different capacities.
Like the coolest of tiny living spaces, they transform to accommodate different uses, making one room serve as five, by the count of developer Wim De Lathauwer, who stars in the promotional video below. As he puts it, "Why would we only think in quantity of bedrooms and square meters, while many of these spaces are used only sporadically?" Why indeed. Scroll down for a walkthrough, and be sure to take note of the real stars of the show, which are the dynamic furnishings by Clei Italia.
· In OMA's De Rotterdam, Furniture Transforms 60-meters into Multi-Functional, Versatile Space [Arch Daily]
· All OMA coverage [Curbed National]
· All microdwelling coverage [Curbed National]
· All Video Interludes [Curbed National]