Q3 | AR2U080Four Storylinesfor a fresh look at FlevolandVan Eesteren chairFebruary 2016

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Introduction

The Flevoland region is an emblem of modernistic urbanism. Cornelis van Eesteren, the first chariman of the CIAM and the first professor in Urbanism at the TU Delft, was an advocate of the separation of functions –residential, industrial, traffic, recreation, etc. A logic answer to the perils and infringements that the era of industrialization brought along. Van Eesteren’s ideas and design heavily influenced the planning of Flevoland, in which he even took part himself. However there is only one tangible project by Van Eesteren in Flevoland: the Houtribdijk between Lelystad and Enkhuizen. Nowadays the separation of functions has, to a certain extend, become a problem itself. Monofunctional enviroments are vulnerable to change and decline.

As an alternative to Flevoland’s tradition of meticulous planning, your attention is brought to other (spatial) qualities of the region, that seem to be the result of a mix of rational plan-ning, unexpected setbacks, natural behavior and happy coincidents.Four storylines are developped to trigger your imagination and find a focus. These storlylines are accompanied by four trends that seek a connection with Van Eesteren’s tradition of working.

Trends

GROWTH & DECLINEWATER & CLIMATE CHANGEENERGY TRANSITIONTOURISM, RECREATION & CULTURE

Storylines

ABSTRACT LANDSCAPESLAND OF HARD BORDERSUNFINISHED PROJECTSLAND OF SEPARATE FUNCTIONS

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Place

Space

Monnickendam

Markermeer

Place (room)‘picturesque’- limited- enclosed- concrete- clear- safe

Space‘sublime’ - unlimited- endless- abstract- surprising- dangerous

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01Abstract landscapes

spatial qualities:The Dutch word ‘ruimte’ means both space and place. Frits Palmboom uses the terms space & place to describe the spatial qualities of the picturesque and the sublime. A ‘place’ is defined as an -at least partially- enclosed space that provides shelter and security. Think of a room or street. A place might be picturesque as to describe its picture-perfect beauty and pleasing vivid qualities. Like old Dutch water cities with winding streets and undulating bridges: romantic and (super) sweet.While a ‘space’ is undefined on multiple sides. Imagine a view from a dike over a lake or a panorama from a mountain top. A space may be sublime. The sublime refers to “a great-ness beyond all possibility of calculation, measurement, or imitation”. Its abstractness both fascinates and horrifies us.

The Flevopolders are of an enormous industrial scale, that goes beyond human recogni-tion. As a result the region features an abundance of space and sublime moments. Yet it lacks, at least for some, a connection with more cosy, protected and comfortable pictur-esque places.While some are appalled by Flevopolder’s rugged and barren landscape, others appreci-ate it. A striking amount of Japanese and other Asian companies located their European office in Almere. They like to be near Schiphol airport but prefer cheap, clean and new Almere to old, dirty and expensive Amsterdam. So there seems a cultural dimension to it too.

In the 1920’s Van Eesteren and Mondriaan were friends and members of De Stijl Group, an artistic modern movement promoting abstract art. Rumor has it that Mondriaan lost a card game to Van Eesteren and paid him with a painting. The proceeds of the sale of the painting after Van Eesteren’s death was used to fund the Van Eesteren-Fluck & Van Lohu-izen Foundation from which the Van Eesteren chair and this coure are partially endowed.

spatial qualities:• space & place• sublime & picturesque• a sequence of spaces connecting these two• celebrating abstract spaces by making them truly sublime• making compositions and sequence based on a mix of spaces & places, of the pictur-

esque and the sublime

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Robert MorrisObservatorium(1971-77)

Marinus BoezemThe Green Cathedral(1978-96)

Lucien den ArendHomage to El Lissitzky(1982)

Antony GormleyExposure(2010)

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The parallels between art and the culture of making new land and cities are fascinating. Not only do the work of Flevoland and that of Mondriaan share common traits. The culti-vation of the new reclaimed land was celebrated with art projects. Art projects that suited the type of new land: land art. Land art is “an art movement in which landscape and the work of art are inextricably linked”. It is often huge in scale, abstract in nature and sublime in its effect. The Flevopolders house land art by among others Marinus Boezem, Daniel Libeskind and Richard Serra.

In fact regarding land making a cultural act is a Dutch tradition that dates back to at least the 17th century, when the Beemster lake north of Amsterdam was reclaimed. The inves-tors of the commercial project -who earned their wealth through colonial trade- built estates as summer residences to enjoy the beauty of the new rational landcape, ordered painters to capture its prefection in paintings, and invited their friends. Like René Descartes, the French 17th century philosopher, who concluded: “God created the earth, but the Dutch created The Netherlands”.

Daniel LibeskindPolder garden of love & fire(1992-97)

Richard SerraSea level(1989-96)

Tom ClaassenElephants(2000)

Lucien den ArendKoopman & Bolkin(1993)

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02Land of hard borders

storylines:In his inaugural speech professor Frits Palmboom introduced the Paradox of the Delta: “On the one hand there is the natural system that originally follows the principles of the ‘fluid landscape’, with its almost endless gradients, its spatial continuity its dynamics and unpredictability. On the other hand there is population growth, intensive farming and urban-isation that require control, safety guarantees, and minimising risk as much as possible.”

Interestingly enough a paradox is only a seeming contradiction. Our assumption is that is possible to marry the qualities of a continuous fluid delta landscape with the safety and control of a discrete compartimented patchwork landscape. A challenge for you to explore how.

The gradient of water to land seems the essence of all sorts life. Of natural and human life and economic activities. Deltas offer perfect conditions for agriculture: fluvial sedimenta-tions created a fertile breeding ground, there is fresh water aplenty and the land is mosty flat. Flevoland is one of the most productive and fertile lands on earth. Potatoes are its main product.The wateredge forms a great trading place too, to ship locally produced goods via natural networks. Unsurprisingly the vast majority of humanity lives in deltas.Als ecological variety is the richest around water edges. Here life emerges spontaneously and nature develops in its widest diversity. The fresh water sytems in and around the IJs-selmeer for example form a unique pitstop for migrating birds for feeding and breeding on their way from the Artic to Africa.

spatial qualities:• water-land gradient as a life-inspiring zone• series of linked landscapes from a small pond to the ocean and • from higher ground with sandy forests to peat and clay polders till wetlands and

mudflats • challenge: making a safe and controled continuous fluid delta landscape by

disconnecting (layers of) safety from the border between land and water

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Edam

Zuiderzee / IJsselmeer

Purmer

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The fluid landsccape that connects a river to a lagoon into the tidal flats of the Waddenzee, towards the North Sea and finally the Atlantic Ocean. Standing at the IJ waterfront behind Amsterdam’s central station one knows and therefore feels this gigantic series of spaces.

Unfortunately Almere, Lelystad and Dronten are not directly oriented at the great waters that surround them. Only via an intricate system of canals and sluices do these towns have access to the IJsselmeer.

These introverted new towns may learn something from the historic Dutch water cities, which orientation to the water offer them till today quality and attractivity. Even though the im-portance of water access has diminished. Think of Edam, famous for its cheese. Where a north-south axis links green pastures with cows to the cheese market at the centerHere it intersects with a waterline that brings the fresh fish -herring in this case – from the southern sea into the heart of the mideaval center.

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03Unfinished projects

storylines:Some of Flevoland’s greatest qualities are not the result of a plan but of sheer coincidence.This may be true for a lot of other regions too. If you realize that only a part of a (regional) plan will be realized -and we don’t know which part- how does that influence the way we make a plan?

The initiative to realize the IJsselmeerpolders was not taken to house a growing popula-tion. Since 1848 plans were made to reclaim land from the Zuiderzee, the former name of what now is called the IJsselmeer. The final decision to realize the plans for the Zuiderzee Works was taken only 70 years later. After a flood in 1916 and food shortage caused by World War I in 1917 urged politicians to act. The flood called for a shorter and safer coast-line, the food shortage to provide more agricultural land to produce enough food for the whole country. Only during the realization of the polders in the postwar period the popula-tion growth of especially Amsterdam forced planners to think of extra room for urbaniza-tion. Almere is its result.

Take the Oostvaardersplassen a nature reserve, which is starring in the movie The New Wilderness, is the result of an accident. Originally it was planned as an industrial park be-tween the new towns of Lelystad and Almere. When the engineers returned to this deepest part of the Flevopolder to drain the already diked marsh land, they were confronted by an area full of wild life. A turning tide in society, with ecological concerns and more apprecia-tion for nature helped to stop the drainage. Ecologists got enthusiastic and were curious if they were able to attract other birds, such as the spoonbill. Pools were digged for the three-spined stickleback, a small fish, that spoonbills loves to eat. It became a success. The Oostvaardersplassen is now one of the most precious nature reserves in Holland and it is not even 50 years old.

spatial qualities:• what is the ‘best-before-date’ of a plan?• to what extend are the qualities of Flevoland (or any other region), the result of a plan

or the result of sheer coincidence and life itself?• if you realize that it is most likely that only a part of a plan will be executed, but not

which part, what does that mean for making a plan?• how can you build up on budding (but/and) existing qualities to stim. develop them

further?

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In the same era it was decided to stop the execution of the Markerwaard, the last IJsselmeerpolder. The Houtribdijk between Lelystad and Enkhuizen, which closes off the Markermeer, is a silent witness of the original plan.The Oostvaardersplassen consists of a dry and wet part. On the dry part large herbivores, called Heck cattle, are the most prominent. This cattle has a infamous past. In fact they are Nazi super cows, breeded by the Heck brothers, who were directors of the zoo’s in Berlin and Munich during the 1930’s. The brothers headed a program to develop a genetically engineered species, by back-breed-ing from auroch descendants, a type of cattle that went extinct in the 17th century. Most of these nazi super cows were killed by at the end of Wolrd War II. Those that survived are the ancestors of the Heck cattle in the Oostvaardersplassen.

Ten years ago the Dutch government and Almere started to make plans for doubling Almere by build-ing 60 thousand houses to unburden of Amsterdam and Utrecht. Due to the crisis and a change in taste towards more urban living this ‘leap in scale’ of doubling Holland’s largest new town is the latest aborted plan. Currently Almere plans to build only 20 thousand housen in the next two decades.

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04Land of separate functions

storylines:Flevoland is the emblem of modernistic urbanism. Back then urbanism was a sport of four colors: wred for housing, green for nature and recreation, blue for water and black for everything stinky and dirty: infrastructure and industrial parks. There are striking similari-ties between the urban plans of Van Eesteren and friends with their contemporary artistic friends like Mondriaan. It is not hard to redraw Flevoland as a Mondriaan painting.Major urbanization - Almere and Lelystad- and infrastructure –A6 highway and Hanzelijn railway- are concentrated at the IJsselmeer side. The heart of Flevoland is used for extra large activities such as modern agriculture, windmills landscape and a low cost airport. The southeastern fringe is slightly higher altitude and features forests, recreational activities and small settlements.As a consequence everything in Flevoland is monofunctional. It raises the question how sustainable and vital these areas are. Can they deal with change and are they still popular with new generations? What does it have to offer to its surrounding regions?

Flevoland is in many ways contrasting with its surroundings. It is land in the middle of a lake. A young territory with new towns amidst old land with cities full of history. Wet ver-sus dry. Undulating against orthoganal. From growth to decline. A region under increasing urban pressure meets an area of abundance of space and a lack of urban pressure. Not necessarily problematic if you put both to use.Yet these contrasts are hardly exploited.

The regions north of Flevoland face demographic decline. Its economic future looks uncer-tain. Villages loose population and amenities with it. South of Flevoland, the Randstad is booming. Especially Amsterdam and Utrecht attract many.For a long time Almere had the ambition to absorb the growth of Amsterdam and Utrecht. Times have changed. A new generation chooses to live in urban environments. The pop-

spatial qualities:- monofunctional areas separated by transport corridors- quiet comfortable suburbs- how do new towns become old towns?- spatial contrasts between the old and new land- how to enhance contrasts positively and desirably?

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Emmerhout, Luuk Kramer.Hoofddorp, Theo Baart

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ulation growth of Almere slows down. Both the cities of Amsterdam and Utrecht prefer to solve the demand for housing on their own territories and prevent long commutes.But Amsterdam’s housing market is getting overheated. Its citizens look for weekend homes and long for a metropolitan relief. Where can they find a weekend home, a biking afternoon, sailing for a day, a relaxed weekend away or a cultural expedition.Can Flevoland offer outdoor spaces and activities of metropolitan qualities that offer calm, rest and relaxation? Already it houses massive events as Lowlands in Biddinghuizen on the one hand and hardly accessible Markerwadden, a wetland park under construction.What else can Flevoland offer: space for activities that the city cannot house, such as food and ener-gy production?

Flevoland itself is split between decline in the north and growth in the south. It there a way that Flev-oland can have the best of both worlds? How can existing and looming contrasts be put to beneficial effects by design? Can we regard both trends as positive and put them to use to diversify Flevoland? Is it a chance to diversify Flevoland too? How do new towns become old towns?

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Growth & declineRegions compete to attract students, young talented workers and tie families to them. These three demographic waves slightly alter over time. New towns offer qualities to families that seem to get less popular. Regions north of Flevoland face demographic decline. Their economic future look uncertain. Villages loose population and amenities with it. South of Flevoland, the Randstad is booming. Especially Amsterdam and Utrecht attract many new people.For a long time Almere had the ambition to absorb a part of the growth of Amsterdam and Utrecht. Times have changed. A new generation chooses to live in urban environments. The population growth of Almere slows down. Both the cities of Amsterdam and Utrecht prefer to solve the demand for housing on their own territories and prevent long commutes. So the question arises how do new towns become old towns? What qualities do they have to offer? Do they need to choose for a –self sufficient- live on their own or pick a specific role complementary to its context?

> WLO scenario’s 2030 en 2050> PBL Stad als magneet, roltrap en spons > New rhythms of the city. Moulding the metropolis in Amsterdam. Maurits de Hoog

* Booming Amsterdam Metropolitan Area * Demographic decline at Dutch peripheries * Flevoland in between? * How do new towns become old towns? * Metropolitanization * Role of Flevoland? * Dealing with uncertainties *

Water management & climate changeClimate change faces the IJsselmeer area with two challenges: high water and low water. These challenges are tackled by the national Deltaprogram. Rising sea levels and increasing river discharges cause high water levels. This is a safety challenge to prevent floods. The low water challenge deals with the supply of fresh water. The IJsselmeer is Holland’s most important fresh water buffer for dry periods. Especially for agricultural purposes. A few year’s ago when the Deltaprogram started, a rise of 1.5 m was considered. By now this extreme scenario has been lowered to some 50 cm. In the future pumps in the Afsluitdijk will have to make the discharge from the IJsselmeer into the higher sea.The two challenges of high and low water levels are interconnected. In spring the water level of the lake is set on a high level to form a sweat water buffer for dry periods in summer. Which water levels are desirable as a maximum in spring and lowest after a dry summer? And can the demand for sweat water be reduced? Investments in the water system might not only benefit safety but create opportunities as well. It is up to us to identify them.

> Deltaprogramma 2015

Deltaprogramma * Fresh water buffer * Rising sea levels * Increased precipitation * Increasing river discharges * Wet peaks and dry valleys * Seepage * Land subsidence * Multiple uses of water * Energy * Ecosystem services * Natural processes * Cascading * Agriculture * Reducing demand * Alternative fresh water buffers (peat cushions, increased boezem waters) *

TrendsThe four storylines are accompanied by four trends that Flevoland will encounter.

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Energy transitionThe Netherlands is in the lower ranks of EU countries making the shift to renewable energy. In a flat country as The Netherlands people love emptiness and clear views at the horizon. Therefore many plans for windmill parks stir political debate and generate local protests. Large consortia of big companies dominate the market.While the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy -easily one of the greatest challenges of the twenty-first century is an enormous task, it might be an opportunity too. To create economic growth, as Denmark did. Or as a driving force behind spatial developments that otherwise would be unfeasible. The energy transition is not a technical, professional task, but rather a communal, cultural one. In which design plays a essential role. What options and choices emerge from a “post-fossil landscape”? Energy challenges face us in the fields of generation, distribution, (reducing) consumption and storage.

> Structuurvisie Windernergie op land> Een choreografie voor 1000 molens> Landscape and Energy. Designing transition. Dirk Sijmons

Flevoland’s role in its context * Energy production * Distribution * Consumption * Storage * On land and water * Linking opportunities * Wind turbines * Biomass * Batteries * Waterlevels * Solar power * Test sites *

Tourism, recreation & culture“What makes a large city a metropolis? One of the principle traits of a metropolis is that it at-tracts hosts of visitors, whether they be business, tourist, refugee, expat, or local.” states the blurb of The Dutch Metropolis, a book by Maurits de Hoog. While tourists trample Amsterdam, its citizens look for weekend homes and long for a metropolitan relief. Also visitors are getting more interested in what’s surrounding the Dutch capi-tal. Each August for example Lowlands, a three day music and performance festival, attracts 50 thousand to Biddinghuizen, a remote place in east Flevoland. Lelystad offers Batavia Stad, a fashion outlet shopping mall with a marina and a replica of a VOC ship. But it is not all about mass tourism. Others look for unique and slow expe-riences or just to get out with the kids. But what are your destinations if you just want to bike, hike or sail around? Metropolitan park systems and other recreation networks may offer experiences at different speeds, scales and mix of functions. It might be an impulse for declining regions too. Maybe it is unattractive to start a new life in a remote and quiet region, but how about a long weekend away?

> New rhythms of the city. Moulding the metropolis in Amsterdam. Maurits de Hoog> The Dutch Metropolis. Designing quality interaction environments. Maurits de Hoog> Spreekt het IJmeer vanzelf?, Dirk Frieling

Booming Amsterdam * Events & festivals * Declining regions * Resorts * Metropolitan park system * National parks and landscapes * Cultural heritage * Slow culture * Local traditions and food * Art & Landscape * Role of time & rhythms: day, week, season, generation, eternity *

Image creditsTheo Baart p. 18Paul Broekhuisen p. 10EFL stichting p. 2Frits Palmboom p. 4Luuk Kramer p. 18Museum de Paviljoens p. 6 (bottom row), 7 and coverSpreekt het IJmeer vanzelf? p. 12, 14Daan Zandbelt p. 16unretrieved p. 6, 8, 10, 12