Rotterdam Rooftop Days, with MVRDV, the studio cofounded by Domus 2019 Guest Editor Winy Maas, developed a 600 meters long bright orange route called Rotterdam Rooftop Walk. Opened on May 26, until June 24, it allows visitors to crossing a variety of the city’s rooftops at a height of 30 metres on street level. The route aims to offer a new perspective on the city. The roofs, in fact, have a great potential and they can become an urban layer able to makes the city more liveable, biodiverse, sustainable and healthy.

The route begins alongside the Koopgoot, the sunken shopping street that crosses underneath the Coolsingel. Staircases lead visitors up through a series of terraces to the rooftop of the WTC plinth, then over the Coolsingel to the roof of the Bijenkorf. Here visitors find educational displays and demonstrations and they can access the three open patios on the top of the building, designed by Marcel Breuer in 1957. Finally, the route leads across to the roof of the Bijenkorf parking garage, from where a staircase takes visitors back to ground level.

In the rooftop exhibition artists, designers, and architects show how could we use our roofs efficiently for greenery, water storage, food production and energy generation, contributing to a sustainable, healthy and liveable city. Solutions to the scarcity of space in cities are crucial to prevent the continued urbanisation of rural areas. Rooftop programming could make a difference on major issues such as climate change, the housing crisis, and the transition to renewable energy, especially in a city like Rotterdam where 18.5 km2 of flat roofs remain unused.