ROTTERDAM, Netherlands (AP) — A gleaming spiral staircase jutting from the roof of a former Dutch warehouse overlooks the waterway where millions of Europeans once boarded ships bound for a new life in the United States.
The twisting path, intended to represent migrants' unexpected journeys, stands on the Fenix museum, the newest attraction on Rotterdam's waterfront.
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Architect Ma Yansong poses for a portrait during a press preview at the Fenix Migration Museum in Rotterdam, Netherlands, Wednesday, May 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
View of the harbour from the Fenix Migration Museum in Rotterdam, Netherlands, Wednesday, May 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
The Bus by Red Grooms is seen at the Fenix Migration Museum in Rotterdam, Netherlands, Wednesday, May 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
Interior view of The Bus by Red Grooms during a press preview at the Fenix Migration Museum in Rotterdam, Netherlands, Wednesday, May 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
Interior view of the Fenix Migration Museum in Rotterdam, Netherlands, Wednesday, May 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
The museum tells the story of migration, with exhibits including thousands of suitcases from travelers, portraits of refugees and a life-sized city bus.
Architect Ma Yansong of Chinese firm MAD Architects told The Associated Press he wanted the building to serve not only as a museum but also as “a memory."
The museum opens Friday as migration is on the rise, along with anti-immigrant sentiment in many parts of the world. The number of people living outside their country of birth — over 300 million — has nearly doubled since 1990, according to the United Nations.
“As long as we exist as human beings, we move and we migrate. And we will always keep on doing that. And that’s what we show in Fenix,” said the museum’s director, Anne Kremers.
As the museum's construction continued last year, the hard-right Dutch government announced unprecedented measures aimed at reining in migration, including a reintroduction of border checks. It shattered a long-held image of the Netherlands as a nation that welcomed new arrivals.
The museum's viewing platform looks out across Rotterdam, whose 650,000 inhabitants represent over 170 nationalities. The city is the largest port in Europe.
Many of those departing Rotterdam in the early part of the 20th century made the trans-Atlantic journey on the Holland America Line, a shipping company founded by the Van der Vorm family in 1873. The family has been the primary financial backer for the Fenix project, via Dutch art foundation Droom en Daad (Dream and Action).
Art can sometimes provide a better basis for discussion of politically loaded topics like migration, said Cathrine Bublatzky, an anthropologist who studies the intersection of art and migration.
Kremers said she hopes visitors will take away “what it feels like to leave your home, to find a new home, and to say farewell.”
Architect Ma Yansong poses for a portrait during a press preview at the Fenix Migration Museum in Rotterdam, Netherlands, Wednesday, May 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
View of the harbour from the Fenix Migration Museum in Rotterdam, Netherlands, Wednesday, May 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
The Bus by Red Grooms is seen at the Fenix Migration Museum in Rotterdam, Netherlands, Wednesday, May 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
Interior view of The Bus by Red Grooms during a press preview at the Fenix Migration Museum in Rotterdam, Netherlands, Wednesday, May 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
Interior view of the Fenix Migration Museum in Rotterdam, Netherlands, Wednesday, May 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
CRANS-MONTANA, Switzerland (AP) — Dozens of people are presumed dead and about 100 injured, most of them seriously, following a fire at a Swiss Alps bar during a New Year’s celebration, police said Thursday.
“Several tens of people” were killed at the bar, Le Constellation, Valais Canton police commander Frédéric Gisler said.
Work is underway to identify the victims and inform their families but “that will take time and for the time being it is premature to give you a more precise figure," Gisler said.
Beatrice Pilloud, attorney general of the Valais Canton, said it was too early to determine the cause of the fire. Experts have not yet been able to go inside the wreckage.
“At no moment is there a question of any kind of attack,” Pilloud said.
Officials called the blaze an “embrasement généralisé,” a firefighting term describing how a blaze can trigger the release of combustible gases that can then ignite violently and cause what English-speaking firefighters would call a flashover or a backdraft.
“This evening should have been a moment of celebration and coming together, but it turned into a nightmare,” said Mathias Rénard, head of the regional government.
The injured were so numerous that the intensive care unit and operating theater at the regional hospital quickly hit full capacity, Rénard said.
Helicopters and ambulances rushed to the scene to assist victims, including some from different countries, officials said.
“We are devastated,” Frédéric Gisler, commander of the Valais Cantonal police, said during a news conference.
The injured were so numerous that the intensive care unit and operating theater at the regional hospital quickly hit full capacity, according to regional councilor Mathias Rénard.
The municipality had banned New Year’s Eve fireworks due to lack of rainfall in the past month, according to its website.
In a region busy with tourists skiing on the slopes, the authorities have called on the local population to show caution in the coming days to avoid any accidents that could require medical resources that are already overwhelmed.
The community is in the heart of the Swiss Alps, just 40 kilometers (25 miles) north of the Matterhorn, one of the most famous Alpine peaks, and 130 kilometers (81 miles) south of Zurich.
The highest point of Crans-Montana, with a population of 10,000 residents, sits at an elevation of nearly 3,000 meters (1.86 miles), according to the municipality’s website, which says officials are seeking to move away from a tourist culture and attract high-tech research and development.
The municipality was formed only nine years ago, on Jan. 1, 2017, when multiple towns merged. It extends over 590 hectares (2.3 square miles) from the Rhône Valley to the Plaine Morte glacier.
Crans-Montana is one of the top race venues on the World Cup circuit in Alpine skiing and will host the next world championships over two weeks in February 2027.
In four weeks’ time, the resort will host the best men’s and women’s downhill racers for their last events before going to the Milan Cortina Olympics, which open Feb. 6.
Crans-Montana also is a premium venue in international golf. The Crans-sur-Sierre club stages the European Masters each August on a picturesque course with stunning mountains views.
From left, Mathias Reynard, State Councillor and president of the Council of State of the Canton of Valais, Stephane Ganzer, State Councillor and head of the Department of Security, Institutions and Sport of the Canton of Valais, Frederic Gisler, Commander of the Valais Cantonal Police, Beatrice Pilloud, Attorney General of the Canton of Valais and Nicole Bonvin-Clivaz, Vice-President of the Municipal Council of Crans-Montana during a press conference in Lens, following a fire that broke out at the Le Constellation bar and lounge leaving people dead and injured, during New Year’s celebration, in Crans-Montana, Swiss Alps, Switzerland, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026. (Alessandro della Valle/Keystone via AP)
A skier walks in the area where a fire broke out at the Le Constellation bar and lounge leaving people dead and injured, during New Year’s celebration, in Crans-Montana, Swiss Alps, Switzerland, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026. (Alessandro della Valle/Keystone via AP)
A banner stating that fireworks are prohibited due to the risk of fire is pictured near the area where a fire broke out at the Le Constellation bar and lounge leaving people dead and injured, during New Year’s celebration, in Crans-Montana, Swiss Alps, Switzerland, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026. (Alessandro della Valle/Keystone via AP)
Police officers inspect the area where a fire broke out at the Le Constellation bar and lounge leaving people dead and injured, during New Year’s celebration, in Crans-Montana, Swiss Alps, Switzerland, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026. (Alessandro della Valle/Keystone via AP)
Police officers inspect the area where a fire broke out at the Le Constellation bar and lounge leaving people dead and injured, during New Year’s celebration, in Crans-Montana, Swiss Alps, Switzerland, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026. (Alessandro della Valle/Keystone via AP)
Police officers inspect the area where a fire broke out at the Le Constellation bar and lounge leaving people dead and injured, during New Year’s celebration, in Crans-Montana, Swiss Alps, Switzerland, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026. (Alessandro della Valle/Keystone via AP)
Police officers inspect the area where a fire broke out at the Le Constellation bar and lounge leaving people dead and injured, during New Year’s celebration, in Crans-Montana, Swiss Alps, Switzerland, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026. (Alessandro della Valle/Keystone via AP)
