Office building Il Fiori

Opposite of Aldo Rossi’s Bonnefanten Museum the site, in effect a left-over corner, suggested no more than a building doing duty as an angular wall to screen off the residential area beyond from a quirky square at the front. Il Fiore means ‘blossoming’ or flowering, and this is what the building is supposed to be representing. Hertzberger says: “The transparent front buildings contrast fully with the all but blank wall they are attached to, like blossoms standing out from a branch.” At two points the building is elevated, to open up to the neighbourhood behind. The ceramic façade of these bridges refers to the history of this former industrial area.