Mapping light and art in Rotterdam

The City of Rotterdam has published the Lichtroute Rotterdam map guiding people through 44 illuminated sites and and works of light art in the city.

Jointly created by the Municipality of Rotterdam and Centre for the Arts (CBK) Rotterdam, the map includes information on each lighting project. Featured projects include the Giant of Rotterdam, the Kraatpaal and the Erasmus Bridge, as well as light artworks such as Light Gig in LantarenVenster or Broken Light, Rotterdam’s very special street lighting initiative.

“Light and art form an important part of Rotterdam’s expansive public art collection. By presenting these works together with stunning architecture, we offer a cohesive and exciting overview of all that Rotterdam-by-night has to offer,” says Marjolijn van der Meijden from CBK Rotterdam.

“In the Rotterdam Light Plan, the municipality’s viewpoint is on the lighting of the city. The night scene of Rotterdam is more than street lighting in the public space. Lighting is ‘architecture of the night’ and makes for an attractive city after dark. With the new light route map, the municipality shows the public its art and architecture from a completely different angle,” says Willem Reedijk, Head of Public Lighting in Rotterdam.

The Lichtroute Rotterdam map is available free of charge at the Rotterdam Tourist Information Office.

• Download the Lichtroute Rotterdam map
• Learn more about Rotterdam’s policy on light and art in public space at the LUCI City under Microscope in Rotterdam conference (27 – 29 March).
• Read about light art in Rotterdam as well as cities worldwide in the Light & Art in Public Spaces publication.

An edited version of this article originally appeared in Cities & Lighting (Issue #7, July 2018).