The Rotterdam artist Louis van Roode became known for his decorations on apartment buildings and monumental buildings during the reconstruction period of Rotterdam. Through collaboration with architects, the reconstruction of the city after the Second World War offered him new opportunities for creating works of art. This untitled work is an example of that. Van Roode designed the entire east facade of the Calandlyceum in 1962 (now Wolfort Dalton college). The enormous facade emphasizes the entrance to the school building and makes the building visible from afar; it is a real eye-catcher. Van Roode has made optimal use of the generous dimensions of the architecture. The facade relief is approximately 15 meters wide and 7 meters high, and it weighs 100 tons. In the dynamic composition, the surfaces seem to move from a center to outside the boundaries of the building. The work has a great monumental appearance. Van Roode also used an innovative technique: shards of glass incorporated into a very sculptural-looking concrete relief. Due to the demolition of the old school building, the work was sawn loose from the facade in June 2024. The work is being restored on the construction site. In 2025, the relief will be placed in its final new location at the entrance of the new building for Mytylschool de Brug.
During the Reconstruction period, the Rotterdam artist Louis van Roode (Delft, 1914 - Rotterdam, 1964) often worked on commission for the new architecture. He made many murals and mosaics, which adorned modern architecture, but which also told their own story about nature, culture, man and the cosmos. Major works by his hand have been preserved in Rotterdam, but also in Vlissingen, Eindhoven and The Hague. He can rightly be called one of the greatest wall artists of his time.
Concrete plastic with colored glass accents above the Calandlyceum school building entrance
Materials
Stained glass in concrete
Dimensions
Approximately 15 x 7 m
Year
1962
Client
Municipality of Rotterdam (OJV)
Recruitment
Committee for the Rotterdam percentage scheme
Money source
Percentage regulation, involved construction assignment
Owner
Property owner
About the artwork
The Rotterdam artist Louis van Roode became known for his decorations on apartment buildings and monumental buildings during the reconstruction period of Rotterdam. Through collaboration with architects, the reconstruction of the city after the Second World War offered him new opportunities for creating works of art. This untitled work is an example of that. Van Roode designed the entire east facade of the Calandlyceum in 1962 (now Wolfort Dalton college). The enormous facade emphasizes the entrance to the school building and makes the building visible from afar; it is a real eye-catcher. Van Roode has made optimal use of the generous dimensions of the architecture. The facade relief is approximately 15 meters wide and 7 meters high, and it weighs 100 tons. In the dynamic composition, the surfaces seem to move from a center to outside the boundaries of the building. The work has a great monumental appearance. Van Roode also used an innovative technique: shards of glass incorporated into a very sculptural-looking concrete relief. Due to the demolition of the old school building, the work was sawn loose from the facade in June 2024. The work is being restored on the construction site. In 2025, the relief will be placed in its final new location at the entrance of the new building for Mytylschool de Brug.
During the Reconstruction period, the Rotterdam artist Louis van Roode (Delft, 1914 - Rotterdam, 1964) often worked on commission for the new architecture. He made many murals and mosaics, which adorned modern architecture, but which also told their own story about nature, culture, man and the cosmos. Major works by his hand have been preserved in Rotterdam, but also in Vlissingen, Eindhoven and The Hague. He can rightly be called one of the greatest wall artists of his time.
Concrete plastic with colored glass accents above the Calandlyceum school building entrance
Materials
Stained glass in concrete
Dimensions
Approximately 15 x 7 m
Year
1962
Client
Municipality of Rotterdam (OJV)
Recruitment
Committee for the Rotterdam percentage scheme
Money source
Percentage regulation, involved construction assignment
Owner
Property owner
Louis van Roode -
Untitled (1962)
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