Going Dutch | Winter Workshop at the Academy of Architecture 8-15 January
'Going Dutch' Winter Workshop 2010
Going Dutch
The Dutch cultivated landscape has made Holland world-famous. It is the land that God could not create. The dikes, the polders, the forests, the dunes, the tulip fields and even the wilderness are all manmade. For ages individuals have created, transformed and maintained this landscape. The nobility built estates and planted vast woodlands just for the fun of hunting (Utrechtse Heuvelrug). They drained out large lakes and built a stylish ‘renaissance countryside’ close to Amsterdam just to spend their summer holidays (Beemster). Farmers knitted a lace of lanes and hedgerows interconnecting their individual farms surrounding their handmade hills (Twente). They created plantations covering entire regions with glass (Westland) just to grow and experiment with tropical flowers. The Dutch landscape is the sum of millions of these personal dreams. This ‘peoples landscape’ is the Dutch trademark.
Nowadays there is a demand for vast nature and water reserves combined with recreation. Big organisations are taking over. They buy out individuals and transform huge areas into monotonous ecological and recreational areas. The Dutch countryside is losing its private diversity.
What will happen if we let individuals do the job (again)? If we divide the landscape amongst many individuals and all individuals can realize their own landscape dream with water, nature and recreation? The question is whether to provide sensible direction in order to maintain spatial cohesion and simultaneously leave room to the individual initiative.
Assignment: What does your landscape dream look like?
In your own miniature piece of land, it’s up to you. But you have a blind date with your neighbours. How will you match your own dream with theirs (as water runs from high to low)? And how can we match up all connecting pieces into vibrant structures? Together we will create a contiguous dream-landscape the Dutch way.
Teachers
Corriette Schoenaerts
Rob Sweere
John Lonsdale
Bruno Doedens
Mike Ottink
Geeske de Graaf & Nanna Koekoek
Lada Hrsak
Berdien Nieuwenhuizen
Irene Curulli & Julietta Zanders
Willem Hoebink
Harma Horlings
Thierry van Raaij
Links
Click here to see the projects (video)