A new exhibition at the Faculty of Architecture examines new approaches in urban planning aimed at preserving the Dutch landscape.
The speed at which new construction and development occurs in Holland is ever-increasing and often misguided. The exhibition Memory of the City details the new historically correct approaches that have emerged in urban planning in recent years to ensure that the characteristic Dutch landscape doesn’t disappear under a carpet of new urban developments.
In the not too distant past, urban planning erased many important aspects of Holland’s cultural and historical landscape. The lines of ditches, old waterways, property boundaries and other historical landscape elements were wiped out forever.
It has now however become clear to urban planners and designers that the historical background of an area must be considered when planning future developments. This new approach aims to profit from the specific characteristics of a site, rather than just ignoring or demolishing them.
This trend is the theme of this new exhibition organized by the Faculty of Architecture’s Urbanism department. “It was often the case that thick layers of sand would be spread out over a new site, creating a so-called tabula rasa or clean slate on which to create a new plan,” says Professor Han Meyer, one of the exhibition’s organizers. “The theme for this exhibition was chosen as a reaction to such urban plans, which lacked context because no importance was given to the site’s history.”
The exhibition provides an overview of the design tools used by urban designers in relation to history and the built environment. The work of six design firms is on display, originating from different disciplines, including landscape bureaus, urban designers and architects. The participants include Crimson, la4sale, Eric Luiten, HKB stedenbouwkundigen, De Nijl Architecten and Rein Geurtsen & partners.
The chosen projects show the different ways the designers approached this theme with the techniques they had at their disposal. The approaches were based on a number of aspects, such as: morphological-typological analysis of a site, analysis of landscape structures, the use of historical precedents and architectural-historical research.
To further the cause of the historical landscape in modern urbanism, the Dutch government published an important non-binding policy document in 1999 called the ‘Beleidsnota Belvedere‘. This document was to serve as a source of inspiration for planners, landscape architects and urban designers with its message of conservation through development.
At TU Delft and the universities of Utrecht and Amsterdam, Belvedere Chairs were established to stimulate discussion and to further research in this area. Meyer: “The important questions are: How do you deal with the landscape’s cultural inheritance? What elements are present? What do or can these elements mean in a new plan?”
The hope is that the questions posed in the exhibition and subsequent publications will lead to a debate from which possible answers will flow. The knowledge gained as a result of the series of exhibitions will offer new insights into Dutch Urbanism today.
img:22exhibitionfoto.tif
Project Paddepoel Zuidwest (Photo: De Nijl Architecten)
The exhibition is currently open in the Faculty of Architecture’s Blokkenhal and runs until November 9.
This week’s Study Breaks are available on our website: www.delta.tudelft.nl
The speed at which new construction and development occurs in Holland is ever-increasing and often misguided. The exhibition Memory of the City details the new historically correct approaches that have emerged in urban planning in recent years to ensure that the characteristic Dutch landscape doesn’t disappear under a carpet of new urban developments.
In the not too distant past, urban planning erased many important aspects of Holland’s cultural and historical landscape. The lines of ditches, old waterways, property boundaries and other historical landscape elements were wiped out forever.
It has now however become clear to urban planners and designers that the historical background of an area must be considered when planning future developments. This new approach aims to profit from the specific characteristics of a site, rather than just ignoring or demolishing them.
This trend is the theme of this new exhibition organized by the Faculty of Architecture’s Urbanism department. “It was often the case that thick layers of sand would be spread out over a new site, creating a so-called tabula rasa or clean slate on which to create a new plan,” says Professor Han Meyer, one of the exhibition’s organizers. “The theme for this exhibition was chosen as a reaction to such urban plans, which lacked context because no importance was given to the site’s history.”
The exhibition provides an overview of the design tools used by urban designers in relation to history and the built environment. The work of six design firms is on display, originating from different disciplines, including landscape bureaus, urban designers and architects. The participants include Crimson, la4sale, Eric Luiten, HKB stedenbouwkundigen, De Nijl Architecten and Rein Geurtsen & partners.
The chosen projects show the different ways the designers approached this theme with the techniques they had at their disposal. The approaches were based on a number of aspects, such as: morphological-typological analysis of a site, analysis of landscape structures, the use of historical precedents and architectural-historical research.
To further the cause of the historical landscape in modern urbanism, the Dutch government published an important non-binding policy document in 1999 called the ‘Beleidsnota Belvedere‘. This document was to serve as a source of inspiration for planners, landscape architects and urban designers with its message of conservation through development.
At TU Delft and the universities of Utrecht and Amsterdam, Belvedere Chairs were established to stimulate discussion and to further research in this area. Meyer: “The important questions are: How do you deal with the landscape’s cultural inheritance? What elements are present? What do or can these elements mean in a new plan?”
The hope is that the questions posed in the exhibition and subsequent publications will lead to a debate from which possible answers will flow. The knowledge gained as a result of the series of exhibitions will offer new insights into Dutch Urbanism today.
img:22exhibitionfoto.tif
Project Paddepoel Zuidwest (Photo: De Nijl Architecten)
The exhibition is currently open in the Faculty of Architecture’s Blokkenhal and runs until November 9.
This week’s Study Breaks are available on our website: www.delta.tudelft.nl
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