West 8 Urban Design and Landscape Architecture

Brandgrens Rotterdam (the fire limits) permanently marks the areas of the city that were destroyed by the bombing on 14 May 1940 and the ensuing fires that broke out. The bombing only lasted fifteen minutes but managed to destroy practically all of Rotterdam’s city centre. In 2007 CBK Rotterdam invited four designers to present their ideas on how to mark the fire limits. A jury was asked to choose one design. On Monday 14 May 2007 the winning design by West 8 was announced by vice mayor of Rotterdam, Lucas Bolsius.

The design uses light objects to mark the fire limits permanently in the public space. An iconic image of a flame is incorporated in circular light objects on the ground and in several information stations, that together form the marking. The image of the flame shows a visual connection with Zadkine's statue commemorating the bombing of Rotterdam.The light objects come to life at night illuminating the icon. This physical marking of the fire limits is coupled with information about the historic meaning of the bombing, accessible through the information stations and a website.

On the 14th of May 2010, exactly 70 years after the bombing, the permanent marking is finished with the unveiling of the 'Brandgrenssteen'. Which gives information about the bombing.