The Basic Plan by Van Traa

Cornelis van Traa (1899-1970) joined the Municipal Technical Service (Department of Public Works) in Rotterdam at the start of 1940. He was chief assistant to city architect Witteveen during the war years. When Witteveen took sick leave in April 1944, Van Traa took over his duties. The Club Rotterdam, headed by Van Nelle director Cees van der Leeuw, pushed for the addition of a second, modern designer: Cornelis van Eesteren or Mart Stam. In the end, Sam van Embden was appointed, and Rein Fledderus also joined the team. Under Van Traa, the Reconstruction Plan changed into a flexible scheme, a legal framework. Witteveen thought mostly in three dimensions and designed the city with the help of perspectival drawings, while Van Traa, in his Basic Plan, determined the infrastructure and the zoning. The plan was largely two-dimensional so as not to thwart future possibilities.

The Club Rotterdam, headed by Van Nelle director Cees van der Leeuw, pushed for the addition of a second, modern designer: Cornelis van Eesteren or Mart Stam.

In the Basic Plan the idea of the old city triangle was abandoned more fully. The street pattern was transformed into a more regular grid of major traffic arteries. Hofplein, a complicated intersection with a modern Palace of Industry in Witteveen’s proposal, became a well-organised traffic circle in Van Traa’s plan. Coolsingel was widened from 44 to 80 metres to make it a veritable central boulevard. An important intervention was the realignment of Coolsingel in the direction of Schiedamsedijk. Located at the tip of Leuvehaven was a so-called ‘window on the river’, from where people could experience the proximity of the river and the docks. This intervention necessitated the demolition of what was left of the Bijenkorf department store by Dudok. The centre was extended towards the west, creating space for the Lijnbaan shopping precinct. The Basic Plan was so flexible that the street pattern evolved from city centre courtyards into the revolutionary, pedestrian Lijnbaan shopping development. There was also a marked preference for multi-tenant buildings. Witteveen always thought of traditional architecture, the quality of which would be monitored by supervisors of his choosing. The Basic Plan, by contrast, offered more space for modern, functional architecture. Architecture was liberated from the straitjacket of urban design guidelines.

A most important intervention was the separation of areas for living, working and recreation. The centre was primarily intended for working, shopping and entertainment. Businesses and factories were relocated to special industrial estates such as Spaanse Polder outside the centre. Housing was chiefly planned in districts on the city outskirts such as Overschie, Schiebroek and in the new garden suburbs to the south like Pendrecht and Zuidwijk.

An important intervention was the realignment of Coolsingel in the direction of Schiedamsedijk.

The Basic Plan for the Reconstruction of Rotterdam was adopted by the city council on 28 May 1946. Rotterdam, roll up your sleeves! A major work lies before us. Thus ran the headline in Het Vrije Volk. A brochure entitled The New Heart of Rotterdam appeared. In 1947 the plan to rebuild the city was presented in the form of a model in the exhibition Rotterdam in the Near Future at Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen.