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On the narrow strip of grass in front of the Platform Zuid 57 building, there is a curious concrete thing. From afar, it reminds one of a group of birds that have just landed. Big birds. It turns out to be a sculpture by Rudi Rooijackers. Originally this sculptor made this work in 1967 for the schoolyard of the new MTS on the Leyweg. Architect W.S. van de Erve designed a building on legs with a courtyard in the middle. Rooijacker's 'birds' were present there for many years. Until 1992, Leyweg 809 was the address of the MTS. When the former school building was demolished in 2006, the Rooijackers sculpture was given a new home on the Zuidlarenstraat.

Actually, it is a very unusual image for this artist. Normally his formal language is round and organic. Although his sculptures were abstracted, it was generally easy to recognise what they represented. Rooijackers is known for the many sculptures he has made in the Netherlands, for example for schools. They are usually highly simplified and solid human figures that are often doing something together: wrestlers, a girl on a bench, a group of people actively transferring knowledge to each other.

Rooijackers studied at the Royal Academy of Art and was assistant to the famous Belgian sculptor Albert Termote for two years. Shortly after the Second World War, he started his own practice. In that period of reconstruction, he received many commissions for monumental sculptures in new buildings. This also gave him the opportunity to develop his own style.