Pete Shoemaker Untitled (1956)

In the reconstruction period after the war, many office buildings were built on the Blaak and Westblaak. In 1956 Levensverzekeringsmaatschappij Amstleven opened this office building at Westblaak 4-12. The design is by architect ir. Harry Nefkens (1918-2018), who probably commissioned artist Piet Schoenmakers to make a number of facade reliefs. Schoenmakers made 30 reliefs with symbolic representations that refer to trade, harbor and fertility, for example. The facade ornaments are not all different. The reliefs are applied in an elegant pattern on blue-green fluted ceramic plates. Shoemakers would also have made a relief for the entrance hall (source: Platform Reconstruction Rotterdam). Today this office building is a municipal monument.