Untitled (1974) Leen Droppert
Thanks to the percentage scheme, a work of art could be realized at every metro station. A design by visual artist Leen Droppert was chosen for the construction of the Zalmplaat metro station. The wall designed by Droppert gave the hall of the station its own look. With a steel fence between the entrance gates to the platform, Droppert wanted to visualize the metro lines, which run both at the top and bottom. Part of the brick wall of the hall was covered with a green layer of plaster with flowing contours. Black plaster was applied over that layer in two places. Four differently shaped cavities were recessed in the plastered wall, through which the stainless steel rods passed, which also formed the fence. Originally there were also red and green lights in the cavities, which alternately turned on and off. The lighting soon fell to destruction. Years later, the artwork was unfortunately removed in its entirety.
Leen Droppert (Vlaardingen, 1930 – Vlaardingen, 2022) studied at the Amsterdam Graphic School during the day and at the Art Academy in Rotterdam in the evenings. From the early 1950s he has been working as a visual artist and spatial designer, often in Rotterdam and the surrounding area. It Geuzen monument (1983) in memory of the Geuzen resistance group on the Markt in Vlaardingen is his best-known work. Droppert completed it in 2008 Flood pile project Vettenoordse Polder also in Vlaardingen: four flood poles, which indicate the water level of the storm surge of 1775. In 2020, the Museum Vlaardingen organized a retrospective exhibition for his ninetieth birthday and seventy years of artistry.