Between May 17 and 26, 2024, Rotterdam Rooftop Days and O. Festival for Opera, Music, and Theatre organized Over the Arches: a walking concert where the audience covered 2 kilometers over the roof of the monumental Hofbogen in Rotterdam, straight through 4 different neighborhoods. Over the Arches was the very first and very last chance to take this walk before this roof changes forever!
Musical Rotterdam Stories
Artist duo Strijbos & Van Rijswijk created for Over the Arches a new version of their project Walk With Me, in which ambient sound and spoken text are combined with music. Artist Merel Smitt, herself a resident of one of the neighborhoods surrounding the line, recorded stories from residents and those involved in the transformation of this object together with writer Corinne Heyrman. These stories highlighted not only the rich past of the train connection, but also what this object means to the neighborhood today and the expectations surrounding the realization of the future Dakpark Hofbogen.
The collected stories and live sounds from the city have been interwoven by Strijbos & Rijswijk with new music and live vocals. On the roof, you could enter a unique acoustic world as you walked across the arches, literally and figuratively following the traces of history into the present and the future.
While Over the Arches The route, from Hofplein to the motorway, was opened to the public for the first time since the last trains ran over the Hofbogen.
Hofbogen Park
A unique city park is coming to the Hofbogen railway viaduct. Where the Hofplein Line used to run between Rotterdam and The Hague, you will soon be able to walk among the treetops. At 2 kilometers in length, the park will be the longest rooftop park in the Netherlands. Construction of the park will start shortly, and by the end of 2027, the black roof should have been transformed into a green carpet.
Together with
O. Festival for Opera, Music, Theatre and Rotterdam Roof Days collaborate for Over the Arches among others, together with Dudok Real Estate, the Municipality of Rotterdam, Rotterdam Festivals, Rotterdam North District Council, Hofpleintrein Foundation, De Urbanisten, Bergweg Station, Merel Smitt, Corinne Heyrman, and Strijbos & Van Rijswijk.
