The commission for a kiosk on the Coolsingel in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, was ambivalent. In attempt to stop the growth of on customary law based kiosks the municipality of Rotterdam commissioned the formalization of the current condition. Common building law and restrictions were applied.
The ambivalence is translated into the building by minimalizing the difference of inside and outside, the shop and the sidewalk. The building is essentially a floating roof which contains all technical equipment and provides shelter to the owner and his clients. The large cantilever necessitated a different type of facade: one that stands on the ground in opposition of the regular hang-slide systems. The triangular shape of the roof is a result of the zoning plan.
The building is owned by two entrepreneurs that embody the Dutch identity; a flower shop and a fish shop, brotherly housed in a materialized tolerant ideology.
