DE STELLING VAN RONDEHOEP (THE RONDEHOEP POSITION)
In spirit of Strategisch Groenproject De Venen (i.e. Strategic Greenproject De Venen), the project ‘Zangsporen’ (i.e. ‘Singing tracks’) is a search of artists and residents of De Venen for places with a special meaning.
The form and structure of the polder De Rondehoep (1000 ha), close to Amsterdam, is very similar to an (oak)leaf and has thus become the metaphor for the organic material its made of; the fen. “The system of ditches of the Medieval parcelling pattern branches out like the nerves of a leaf in a green oasis. But instead of feeding the polder, the water is extracted from the thousands of seasons and gets stored in the memory layers of the fen”. Like an advanced post of the Groene Hart* and surrounded by the defence line of Amsterdam (Stelling van Amsterdam), the Rondehoep polder spies on the capitol. But the enemy is no longer situated in the polder, it is the polder itself that is in danger. So; “with nature nota’s as weapons, recreational users as forces and the zeitgeist as ammunition, the defence line of the Rondehoep flips the bird to the economical violence of the delta metropolis. But it is this economic activity that allows us to occupy ourselves with this ‘new nature’.” These vulnerable landscapes should be cherished as cultural heritage, but ignorance is its biggest enemy. With the defence line of the Rondehoep, I’d like to hum the melody of a story, the special pattern in the landscape as a singing track; “land-art avant la lettre”, the polder as a metaphor. “If ignorance can be dispelled this way, does the Rondehoep still need a fort?”
Design: 2002, the project ‘Zangsporen’ (SONGLINES) continues until 2020.
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*The Groene Hart is a sparsely populated peatland area located in the Randstad of The Netherlands.