Matthew Cook

@matthew-cook

Rotterdam resident, British born. Architecture trained, working in urban design/planning. Interested in architecture, cities, ecology, politics. Ik moet mijn Nederlands meer gebruiken.

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Matthew Cook@matthew-cook· 13d

Ah I knew I had seen MVRDV's latest design for Rotterdam somewhere before

An architectural render of MVRDV's design for the SHIFT embassy project in Rotterdam. It looks like a collection of mossy boulders piled up on each other

Matthew Cook@matthew-cook· 19d

Some structures on Hoy in Orkney

Hackness Martello tower, a four storey stone cylinder with one small window. It was built to protect Scapa Flow from Napoleonic invasion

Dwarfie stane, a stone deposited by a glacier which was turned into a burial cairn, it was carved out by hand

A shed in Rackwick, it has dry stone walls covered in thick lichen and a roof made out of huge flagstones which is sagging alarmingly

Rackwick Bothy, recently reopened after an extensive renovation. It also has a flagstone roof but the roofline is ruler straight

Matthew Cook@matthew-cook· 28d

In Twekkelerveld, Enschede there was a Catholic housing corporation and a protestant one, due to sectarian Pillarisation, one happened to use red roof tiles and the other black. The result is you still have a clear view of 1950's religious distribution when you check Google maps today

Google earth view of the post war residential district of Twekkelerveld in Enschede, NL. Some roofs are made with red tiles, other with black

Matthew Cook@matthew-cook· Jul 4

Matthew Cook@matthew-cook· Jun 27

Report from Rotterdam, just got caught in the most intense hailstorm I've ever seen. The dog and I were lucky not to get brained while we ran for cover

A hailstone in the palm of my hand. It's 20mm in diameter!

Matthew Cook@matthew-cook· Jun 20

Great big thunderstorm over Zuid-Holland last night

Lightning crossing a dark sky with a city skyline below

Lightning branching across a dark sky with a skyscraper and skyline below

Matthew Cook@matthew-cook· Jun 3

The Berlage Instituut will end its degree programme in the next year. Maybe I missed it but there seems to have been basically no discussion about it, let alone objections, in the Dutch architectural press. Not going out with a bang and barely a wimper either

A LinkedIn post from Wouter Vanstiphout discussing the closure of the Berlage Instituut with a screenshot of the page from TU Delft announcing the discontinuation of the degree programme after 2026

Matthew Cook@matthew-cook· May 24

Cygnets update

6 cygnets and two parents swimming about in the single in the middle of Rotterdam

Matthew Cook@matthew-cook· May 24

Also amazing is their ancient rubbish heap just along the coast. It's eroding into the sea and you can just go pick up bones that were last touched 6000 years ago, thrown away idly by someone eating their dinner

The side of an eroding bank of soil on the coast. Different layers of rock, soil and shell are visible

Small fish bones from a dinner 1000s of years ago in the palm of my hand

Matthew Cook@matthew-cook· May 24

The Knap of Howar is a stunning piece of architecture. The oldest dwelling in Europe, older than the pyramids. The rafters were made from whale bones as there were no trees but there is decorative stone backing the shelf alcoves. An amazing legacy, both in its building and re-discovery

A picture of the knap of howar, a roofless prehistoric house

Matthew Cook@matthew-cook· May 16

Happily, today I saw this swan, partner and about 6 cygnets just up from their nesting site

Photo taken across the water of the westersingel in Rotterdam. Two adult swans and 6 cygnets sit on a grassy bank next to the water. A few meters behind is a busy street with a tram, bikes, a few bars with terraces of seats on the street

Matthew Cook@matthew-cook· May 7

Last night while walking the dog, I came across this by a playground. It's a doorbell that sends local parents an alert to let them know kids are playing there and would love for other kids to come join. A nice idea to help kids meet each other! openrotterdam.nl/kinderen-kun...

A doorbell attached to a colourful board mounted on the pole of a streetlight. It says Spel Bel, druk op de bel & speel samen

Matthew Cook@matthew-cook· May 4

They distinguish between farmers (boeren) and greenhouse owners (tuinders). The greenhouses are full of logistics firms, migrant workers hotels and factories, yet they are the most Trump loving lot you will meet and think they live in Wyoming, with log cabins and RAM trucks

Google maps satellite view of Naaldwijk, surrounded by highways, burger kings, greenhouses, a town. You cannot see any fields or even open space. A house is highlighted next to a roundabout

Streetview of the highlighted house from the last image. A prairie style single story log cabin, right next to the greenhouses, visible from the road

Matthew Cook@matthew-cook· Apr 30

It's going to be fun seeing the UK discover, and then try to pronounce, wokkeltrappenhuizen

A diagram of the wokkeltrappenhuis, it's two separate stairs arranged in a double helix to create two means of escape in a single structural building core

Matthew Cook@matthew-cook· Apr 4

Living in a very wet country means wildlife often comes right into the heart of the city via the waterways. It's great to see Gemeente Rotterdam give these swans a little more protection amongst all the urban traffic.

A swan sitting on a nest next to a canal in the heart of Rotterdam. Behind it is a road, buildings and a tram track. The nest is protected on three sides by jute netting with the side towards the water left open

Matthew Cook@matthew-cook· Mar 31

The results of the neighbourhood council were only confirmed late last week and the radical right councillor has already been chucked out the party for using AI to spruce up her campaign photo and for lying about living in the area

https://www.rijnmond.nl/amp/nieuws/2174161/leefbaar-rotterdam-zet-wijkraadslid-na-nepfoto-uit-partij-geen-vertrouwen-meer

Headline from this news story describing how the councillor has been chucked out because they don't trust her anymore. The picture shows two photos, left of an older woman in her late 50s and the right of a woman who looks about 20 and was used in the election materials as the photo of the woman on the left

Matthew Cook@matthew-cook· Mar 18

Always enjoy getting to vote in the Netherlands as I can only vote in local elections. The dog loves it too! #hondenbijstembureaus #dogsatpollingstations

A line of people at night queuing up to vote in a greenhouse in the middle of a housing block. It has strings of lights and looks very cute

Me holding my black labradoodle Oscar next to the sign that says stembureau. He looks very cute too

Matthew Cook@matthew-cook· Mar 9

🚨 Cool boat alert 🚨 from the office window in Rotterdam. The Canopee, a cargo ship that takes Ariane 6 rocket parts from Europe to Guinea and is partly powered by sail

A large modern white ship coming into Rotterdam harbour. It has four towers, one on each corner of the deck, which are masts for sails. On the side is says Canopee, ESA and Ariane 6 on board

Matthew Cook@matthew-cook· Mar 5

Recently I saw NZ's Beehive parliament in the flesh, driven by curiosity after @cinemashoebox.bsky.social's twitter parliament culture war. Basil Spence's bit is cool by itself but the way it plays with the classical form it extends is exquisite. Those trads have no idea what they are missing!

Basil Spence's 1979 executive wing to the New Zealand parliament aka the beehive. Photo is taken from close with trees and steps in the foreground as entrance sequence

Basil Spence's 1979 executive wing to the New Zealand parliament aka the beehive to the left in the background, Parliament House from 1922 in an Edwardian Neoclassical style is in the foreground on the right

Matthew Cook@matthew-cook· Feb 8

In Wellington badly parked cars are given dunce caps

A row of cars parked along a street where roadworks are taking place, each car has a traffic cone placed on the roof

Matthew Cook@matthew-cook· Jan 29

@flightradar24.com it's snowed again at Schipol but it looks like they have enough deicer today. PH-TFL is off to Bonaire, where I'm sure it will be a bit warmer!

A picture of a TUI 787 from the terminal building, from the front in line with the starboard engine. A deicing truck is cleaning snow from the plane. A guy in a cherry picker basket is spraying a white misty liquid onto the engine casing

Matthew Cook@matthew-cook· Jan 20

A quarter of Geert Wilders' PVV party have broken away due to disagreements with his leadership. This could be concerning for the UK's radical right, but luckily for them it has no history of infighting or splits!

Matthew Cook@matthew-cook· Jan 10

Edward Jenner, pioneer of vaccination, is not celebrated nearly enough IMO! Last week I visited the first vaccine clinic (aptly named the Temple of Vaccinia) and his tomb (under the blue card by the alter). The temple was recently put on the heritage at risk register but funding has now been found

The temple of vaccinia, a small outbuilding in a wooded part of a garden. Made from rubble stone walls with a thatched roof. It has a big wooden door with a gothic arch and the door is flanked by whole tree trunk slices as decorative cladding

The corner of the chancel of a small church. Next to the alter is a small blue card marking the family tomb of the jenners

Matthew Cook@matthew-cook· Jan 9

My first cinema visit was to the electric picture house in Wotton-under-edge, you used to get a sandwich bag with a handful of jelly babies with your admission

An old photo of a terrace of rural cottages, the middle one is whitewashed stone. A big sign says 'the town cinema'

An old photo of inside the cinema, it's about 4-6 seats wide, maybe about 40 seats total

Matthew Cook@matthew-cook· Dec 21

We have a dog delighted to be heading overland from Rotterdam to the UK via metro and ferry

Our black labradoodle sitting next to suitcases on a metro platform, wagging his tail

The dog on the ferry, rolling around on the cabin bed like a silly boy

Matthew Cook@matthew-cook· Dec 8

New game: What season is it? - anthropogenic climate change editon

A picture of several trees. The one in the foreground has blossom, the one in the background is only just turning yellow. Other threes are completely bare. It is december

Matthew Cook@matthew-cook· Dec 6

Daft, the amount of times I hear about a significant death via a dumb joke like this

Screenshot of a post that reads Frank Gehry 1929-2025, itself with a screenshot of a joke news article from 2002 headlined 'Frank Gehry no longer allowed to make sandwiches for grandkids and a picture of a mad pile of sliced bread and sandwich fillings looking like a Gehry building

Matthew Cook@matthew-cook· Dec 4

I asked my boss what the difference between gereformeerde and hervormde churches is and 15 minutes later he had drawn this diagram for me, starting around 500 ad and ending in madness

A full size whiteboard, standing on the short end, with a family tree style diagram of the various splits in the church from top to bottom. By the end it's an always sunny style made scribble

Matthew Cook@matthew-cook· Nov 25

Stumbled across the express building today and was delighted by it. Hard to imagine what it must have been like seeing this go up in the 30s

A picture of the express building in Manchester, showing its main corner. It's a sunny day with a blue sky

Matthew Cook@matthew-cook· Nov 24

I visited The Whitworth in Manchester yesterday, it's a marvelous gallery. The newish extension is excellent. I loved how kids have a space to play in the heart of the building surrounded by art. Personal highlights were the George Shaw curated exhibition on trees, and Turner's watercolours