The official book of FENIX, the new migration museum in Rotterdam. A building of iconic design by leading architects MAD
The 16,000 sqm building, dating from 1923, is being transformed in a radical design by Ma Yansong of MAD Architects, the internationally acclaimed Beijing-based architecture practice. Located on the south bank of the River Maas in Rotterdam’s historic portdistrict, the warehouse served as an important building for storage and shipping forthe Holland-Amenca Line – a Dutch cargo and passenger line The Holland-AmericaLine facilitated the journeys of millions of migrants in the 19th and 20th centuries whoarrived and departed from the surrounding docks.
Visitors will immediately see its architectural masterpiece, the Tornado, an organic,dynarnic structure evocative of rising air that climbs from the ground floor and flowsup and out of the rooftop onto a platform hovering above the city – an uplifting symbolfor the journeys experienced by migrants globally.
FENIX explores the timeless story of human migration in a changing world through a series of encounters with art, architecture, photography and history, setting out toredefine the role of a museum for the next generation.
Inside the building will be a series of vast gallery spaces over two floors. housing the museum’s growing art and historical collection as well as a series of commissions byemerging artists from across the world, telling stones of migration from their perspective. These include Paris-based Beya Gille Gacha, the Rotterdam-based artist EfratZehavi; Korean artist Chae Eun Rhee, artist Raquel Van Haver and US-based HugoMcCloud and acquisitions which examine the theme of migrations through the lens
