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)