2005 - 2006
Fluvial Garden
2005 - 2006
Fluvial Garden
Almere Hout is a developing district, eventually meant for 30.000 houses. Bureau B+B developed a design strategy, in which archaeological sites define the urban layout. In order to preserve the precious relics, these areas will remain open. They turn into town gardens. The town folds around them. A winding linear park joins all the town gardens into a 37-kilometre-long exposition.
Location
Almere
Client
Woningcorporatie Ymere
The gardens are placed into an imaginary alphabetical grid. The letters correspond with an archaeological lexicon. The town gardens determine the identity and the layout of the new neighbourhoods. The design strategy starts with the planting of a hundred tree nurseries on the archaeological sites. In every nursery, a different collection of trees grows. After the construction of the neighbourhood is finished, the trees are spread out along the streets, giving each neighbourhood its own identity.
An edge of linked patio houses gives the garden a secluded, mysterious atmosphere. Only two small alleys give access to the garden. Rainwater running from the rooftops fills the water playgrounds. Then the water flows into the Fluvial Garden. The houses surround the water garden with cypresses and stepping stones shaped like the leaves of water lilies. After heavy rains, the water rises so high that the stepping stones are underwater. The garden is no longer accessible and became the private domain of the people who live there.
