2005 - 2006

Nieuwe Hollandse Waterlinie

2005 - 2006

Nieuwe Hollandse Waterlinie

Between the Biesbosch and the former Zuiderzee, the New Dutch Waterline is hidden in the landscape. The line was designed as an important defensive work against enemy attacks from the east. Within a day, a series of polders could be flooded, creating a treacherous and inaccessible landscape. Conceived as an ingenious system of forts, canals, sluices and inundation fields, the waterline also produced many smaller concrete works, casemates and group shelters. These former defences now lay as orphaned elements in the landscape.

Location

Nieuwe Hollandse Waterlinie

Client

Projectbureau Nieuwe Hollandse Waterlinie

Year
2005 - 2006
Collaboration

Douwe Koen

Surface Area

8500 ha

The book “Versteende ridders” is the result of the design research that Bureau B+B, in collaboration with military expert Douwe Koen, has carried out on these many concrete structures. It tells the story of the hundred-year-old fortress construction. The remaining objects have been mapped and analyzed for their former function and current significance. In addition, the book contains design studies that look for ways to represent military history in an architectural and artistic way. “Versteende ridders” together with “Levende forten” gives further substance to the old and new uses of the New Dutch Waterline.  The study pleads for the preservation of the smaller elements in clusters. The aim is to ensure the coherence of the contemporary functions of the clusters of concrete works and thus the representation of the original military unit. The aim is to make the changing landscape of the Nieuwe Hollandse Waterlinie recognizable, visible and experienceable.  Together with the book “Levende Forten”, “Versteende Ridders” was published by Blauwdruk publishers. The book was realized with the cooperation of the New Dutch Waterline Project Office and the Stimuleringsfonds voor Architectuur.