
How to sleep at the home of famous architects in Rotterdam
Have you always dreamed of sleeping in an alternative hotel? Do you like to follow cultural and artistic trends? Do you follow the projects of the leading international architects with passion? Here again is a novelty that comes from the land of tulips, to be precise from Rotterdam : with the initiative Wake up in architecture, launched in conjunction with the Architecture Biennale ( International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam – IABR 2016, will be held from April 23rd to July at Fenixloods, in the district of Katendrecht) it will be possible to sleep at the home of famous architects, who will provide rooms in their own homes or in their architecture studios. So we do not use hotel rooms, but lived places where architects develop projects or usually live.
The project was born on the initiative of Hotel Rotterdam, Wake up in it, whose mission is to link city events to direct experiences with artists or with the protagonists participating in the events themselves. In addition to Wake up in architecture , Hotel Rotterdam organizes other similar events, in which there is the possibility of sleeping in the homes of artists, musicians, painters, etc.
After all, the format works and just change the name, as in the case of the Hotel Rotterdam Wake up in Jazz (in this case, the guests who provide rooms in their homes are musicians), and so on for Wake Up in Art , Wake Up in Cultuur, Wake Up in Poetry (and therefore accommodation related to exponents of art, culture, poetry).
The goal of Wibbine Kien and Judith van den Berg , the creators of Wake up in it, is to create unique and unrepeatable situations, giving life to exclusive experiences, in which the visitor can live in close contact with the artists and their style of life. The two girls, who can be contacted online or find, with their cube-reception-information point that resembles a miniature hotel, in the main art events taking place in Rotterdam (but not only, the format is exportable) also elsewhere).
To sleep at the home of famous architects, you need to book rooms online and the idea behind the concept is not to simply promote an overnight stay in an unusual location, but go further: at the time of booking, in fact, in addition to the classics personal data through a system of questions and questionnaires will be in fact identified your profile that will be associated (the so-called match ) to the architect that is more similar, in order to create a unique experience and a two-way exchange. And, only at that point, you will know the address of your accommodation in Rotterdam. In any case, selected architects participate in the project not only for their notoriety, but also for the willingness to interface with guests.
Among the 25 architects and artists who have given their availability to the initiative stand out the names of Fancine Houben and Robert Winkel , the first founder of Mecanoo, study with dozens of international projects active and the second founder of the MEI Studies, focused in transformation of industrial buildings and in the development of innovative projects, such as Schiecentrale 4B in Rotterdam.
The experience is really unusual and innovative, and the costs for accommodation are average of a good hotel: taxes included, a single room costs € 90 while a double room € 140 . Payment must be made in advance, each room is obviously different from the other and the seats are limited.
But there’s more: in addition to breakfast, included in the price of the room, there is a meeting with the host architect. A great opportunity for those who appreciate and admire the new architectural course of the Netherlands!