ROTTERDAM, 11 November 2025 – Artist Jelmer Konjo has transformed the construction site at Coolsingel 75 into a vivid installation that encourages passers-by to look at the city in a new way. His work is the fourth commission within the EDGE Coolsingel Artist Competition: Show Me Your Heart, a series that invites Rotterdam-based artists to respond to a site that is constantly changing.
Colour in a space shaped by construction
Konjo’s installation turns a normally grey and structured construction site into an unexpected field of colour and movement. Using reclaimed wood and leftover materials collected from containers and festival storage, he assembled a composition of bold shapes and bright surfaces. The result introduces a sense of play into a location defined by scaffolding, hoarding and heavy machinery.
For Konjo, Rotterdam is a city in continuous transition. Buildings come down and rise again, and the landscape shifts from one year to the next. His work reflects that rhythm. Instead of accepting the construction environment as a backdrop, he treats it as a moment between demolition and renewal. It is in that temporary space that he sees room for imagination.
A playful response to an evolving city
The artist’s approach challenges the fixed lines of the building site by adding colour, humour and a naïve visual language. The imperfect surfaces of reused wood remain visible, creating a contrast with the straight geometry around it.
“Imagination may be our most important building block,” Konjo says. “We often lose it as we grow older, yet it is exactly this playful perspective that we need in a city that is never finished.”
The installation acts as an invitation to pause, observe and reconsider the surroundings, even if only for a moment.
About the EDGE Coolsingel Artist Competition
The Show Me Your Heart Competition gives Rotterdam-based artists the opportunity to create work for one of the most prominent sites in the city. The winning projects are selected through a combination of public votes and the EDGE Coolsingel project team.
Previous selected artists include Melissa Moria, Tjado Astrando Boerleider and Phlox van Oppen, whose works also appeared on the construction fencing.
Artists can register through the official website: www.showmeyour.art.
About EDGE Coolsingel
EDGE develops sustainable and technology-driven office buildings. The Coolsingel project will offer around 21,500 m² of office space, designed to meet high standards of energy efficiency and user well-being. The building aims for a Net Zero Carbon profile and a WELL Outstanding certification.
The artist competition runs throughout the construction phase, which spans November 2024 to August 2026.
Location and map
The work is installed at Coolsingel 75, directly opposite Rotterdam City Hall. The construction hoarding measures approximately 11 by 2 metres.
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