GROND/GELUID (GROUND-SOUND)

GROUND-SOUND is a soundproofing piece of land art for Schiphol-Hoofddorp in collaboration with H+N+S Landschapsarchitecten, TNO and Witteveen and Bos. Commissioned by Schiphol Airport and Mainport and Groen.

‘The 18^th century physicist Ernst Chladni scattered sand on a surface he afterwards made vibrate with a string bow. As soon as the strummed surface sounded a fundamental the sand jumped up and organised itself into a geometric pattern. The invisible fundamental became visible in the sand.’ At different locations around Schiphol, but mostly in the north of Hoofddorp, residents experience nuisance from the sound of planes that use their engines to full capacity on the starting lane. This low frequency sound is also known as ‘grond geluid’, ground sound.
Calculations and field measurements have shown that the ground sound can be reduced when ridges are constructed in the mowing fields. To realise the wanted noise reduction the area of Buitenschot also requires these ridges. This seems to contradict the idea of Buitenschot as a park, but the thought of a ripple of ridges as a metaphor for the scattering and ending of the ground noise offers us many chances for an exciting park landscape to get lost in and find shelter. Sightlines create smaller and bigger ‘rooms’ that can be used for sports or games, recreation, dog walking or even events.
Ground and sound are contradicting terms; it is mass versus energy, solid versus thin, static versus dynamic. It is these kinds of contradictions that, when put together, appeal to the imagination.
The ‘Luisterend Oor’ and the ‘Chladni-vijver’ are some of the art objects in the area that use the phenomena sound and waves as their theme.

You can find a booklet about this project HERE (English)
Installation October 2013

DE HARTSLAG VAN DE IJSSEL (THE HEARTBEAT OF THE IJSSEL)
in collaboration with VHArch architecten, Bosch en Slabbers landschapsarchitecten ea, commissioned by Van Oord/GMB

On the initiative of the Waterschap Vallei en Veluwe a high-water channel will be constructed between Veessen and Wapenveld in spirit of Ruimte voor de Rivier*. This is a ‘dry’ shore of 8 kilometres that will flow with the river once the water reaches extremes heights (approximately once in the span of a human life). VHArch held responsibility with Van Oord/GMB for the architectural ‘works of art’, such as the inlet, the bridges and pillars, various weirs and pumping stations etcetera. Bosch en Slabbers were responsible for the integration into the landscape. VHArch asked me to contribute to the design from an artistic perspective. Besides suggesting various designs in regards to the design of the pillars and making a large number of artist-impressions of the ‘works of art’, I also suggest the artwork THE HEARTBEAT OF THE IJSSEL. Beneath the bridge, where the grass doesn’t grow, an elongated piece of art is created in collaboration with near-by residents. This piece is allowed to grow throughout the years. February 1995 marks the date when water from the Ijssel reached the tops of the dyke. This historical fact instigated a new way of thinking about high-water safety. ‘The Heartbeat of the Ijssel’ represents this story of the cause and consequence of the ‘Ruimte voor de Rivier’ policy and of the high-water channel Veessen-Wapenveld in particular. Every three years the water levels of the Ijssel of the passing years will be added to a segment of the bridge. When the bridge is completed in 2015, the first 20 years of measuring points will be visible. These measuring points consist of oval drops of high-gloss RVS. The rhythm of the river sparkles in the dark space beneath the bridge. It takes about the span of a human life to complete this work, by then it will be 780 metres long. The chances of incorporating the flowing of the high-water channel are thus very high! ‘The Heartbeat’ shows the passing of time with the rhythm of the river in a sober and subdued way. Functionality and art work well together; the dark space under the bridge gets meaning, even though there will be no water flowing underneath it for most of the time.

Design: spring 2013
* Ruimte voor de Rivier is a Dutch ‘Key Planning Decision’ that was enacted on the 26th of January 2007. Its goals is to prevent flooding of the larger rivers and the improvement of the ‘spatial quality’ of the river areas.

GEHEUGENSPOOR (Memory Trace)
is a sketch design in spirit of the reconstruction of traffic junction N242/N241 at Oude Niedorp/Verlaat. In collaboration with PARKLAAN Landschapsarchitecten and commissioned by the county Noord-Holland.

A map from 1850 shows us the route of the towpath along the shores of the Ringsloot around the polder Heerhugowaard. When we trace this line over the reconstruction drawing of the traffic junction, we can see that today’s landscape shows striking similarities to the landscape in the 1800s. But we can also see that a corner of the former Ringsloot has disappeared into the Niedorpervaart. This sketch design brings the former towpath along the ‘Ringsloot of the Heer Hugo Waard’ back to the surface, like a MEMORY TRACE in today’s and tomorrow’s landscape.
Like most towpaths, the Memory Track is a sand path. But instead of normal sand, the Memory Track has steel sand. Steel sand colours the track an intense reddish-brown colour which gives it a stark contrast to the green of the surrounding grass. Just like any other regular sand path, the steel sand organizes in cloudy patterns and tracks are memorised like a relief on the surface. On the Memory Track we can see the hoof prints of a horse, a draught horse that once pulled along a barge across the ring ditch. In places where the Memory Track crosses the water, in the ecological stepping-stone and in the corner of the Niedorpervaart, it is carried by a wooden platform or a floating pier.
As soon as the MEMORY TRACE has taken shape in the heads of passers-by, it will forever become part of the experience of this place.

Sketch design: November 2012
Unveiling: 28 June 2013
Click HERE and HERE for more information about this design. (English)

KOMPASS
a vision on the connection of the N50/N764/Hanzelijn commissioned by the municipal Kampen, executed in collaboration with PARKLAAN Landschapsarchitecten.

After the redesign of the infrastructure various spaces have become locked in this traffic tissue as unreachable and orphaned shards. We want to bring these different shards together under one denominator and the best way to do this is to introduce water as a combining force. The traffic tissue no longer separates the Kloof into different pieces, but becomes a unifying framework that seems to have been thrown over a continuous surface of water. This causes the situation to become the monumentality that lives up to the scale of the city and the landscape as a worthy waterfront for Kampen.
In Hanze’s time, seafarers orientated themselves with the aid of a compass and ingenious sea maps with compass roses and orientation lines. We want to connect this new waterfront, with the help of this centuries old method of localisation, with the historical waterfront along the IJsselkade in the historical centre of Kampen.
The new entryway to Kampen sees the combining of three different methods of transportation. We want to introduce a compass rose for each of these three; one for the railway passenger, one for the car driver, and one for recreational users. The orientation lines that are drawn from the compass roses are each made visible individually with a variety of vegetation; loosestrife, waterlilies and yellow irises. This way a fascinating linear pattern has the chance to be formed in both space and time (summer-winter).

Click HERE to read more about this project. (English)
February 2013

CAMOUFLAGE

Parkingspace at Fort Vechten, centre of the Nieuwe Hollandse Waterlinie with a capacity of 250 cars, 100 bicycles and 2 busses. Commissioned by the county Utrecht, in collaboration with PARKLAAN Landschapsarchitecten.

Even before we reach Fort Vechten we experience a special place in the landscape of the Nieuwe Hollandse Waterlinie.
The design for this parking space is based on the principals of the hidden military landscape.
Without parked cars, the space looks like a meadow in the landscape, with some concrete paths, casemates, stork nests, and tank barriers.
Only after closer inspection do we see the hidden parking spaces, the numerical tiles and dragon’s teeth in a strict military order.

The parking space is located on the old mowing field and the archaeological monument, it can be disposed of and can also be recycled.
The concrete paths are made of Via Verde-concrete, this contains almost no cement and reduces CO2 emissions. The use of grass paving grids and split bricks reduces the use of materials enormously.

Uitvoering; 2012