Windscreen Calandkanaal (1985) Maarten Struijs & Frans de Wit

photo Jannes Linders
About the artwork

To protect ships on their way to the Maasvlakte from gusts, an almost 2-kilometer-long 'wind screen' was designed by municipal architect Maarten Struijs and sculptor and landscape architect Frans de Wit. The windshield was built between 1983 and 1985, when it was the largest in the world. It consists of a long series of imposing, semi-circular concrete elements, 25 meters high and it is 25% wind permeable. The canal wall is located at the height of the Caland bridge and ensures that shipping can take place with a wind force higher than 5. Without protection, the ships are in danger of colliding with the bridge or the quay. In 2016 it is Windscreen Calandkanaal included in the collection of Sculpture International Rotterdam.

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About Maarten Struijs

Architect Maarten Struijs (Vlaardingen, 1946) obtained his master's degree in Architecture at the Academy of Architecture in Rotterdam in the 1981s. In XNUMX he joined the municipality of Rotterdam. He was a municipal architect for more than twenty-five years and has worked on numerous designs for government buildings, technical facilities and infrastructure during this period. He designed, among other things, the Hartel barrier, the windscreen on the Calandkanaal, the Flue gas cleaner, the head office of the Police Station and various metro stations, such as Beurs, Tussenwater and Blijdorp. He designed the Randstadrail metro station and the underground bicycle shed at Central Station.

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About Frans de Wit

Sculptor and landscape architect Frans de Wit (Leiden, 1942 - there, 2004) studied from 1960 to 1965 at the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague and was part of the so-called Hague School. Using rudimentary imagery, he formulates a universal story of all times and cultures, of man and nature. His monumental sculptures - in Spaarnwoude and in Prins Alexander - are functional, visual and narrative.

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