Cultural-historical recreational landscape

• Program
  Park with water storage and recreation facilities
• Client
  the Netherlands Architecture Fund, Bureau Venhuizen
• Team
  Theo Hauben
  Marco Vermeulen
  
• Collaboration
  -Scape
• Location
  Arnhem Nijmegen (KAN)
• Area
  12500000 m2
• Date
  2005-12-14

The area between the towns of Arnhem and Nijmegen does not function as a park and it also barely has the potential to function as a 'traditional park'. It is far more a recreation landscape in the making, an 'action landscape!'

We have explored the current significance of this area and the role that the river Linge can play in this. In order to activate the cultural history it is interesting to conceive the Park as a collection of amulets: places that refer to a deeper significance than the area once had, combined with a present-day recreational programme that gives the cultural history new significance.

The design proposal comprises three layers that together charge the park with significance and potential uses. Firstly, the storage project, which is linked to the water-management main structure - the Linge, is designed as a series of spaces with double usage: they also serve another purpose as a permanent reinforcement of the park. When no water is collected, other alternatives are an option. Secondly, pleasure gardens along the Linge, enclosed gardens for relaxation, enjoyment and contemplation with valuable archaeology. And thirdly, the already-existing gems in the area will be included in a cycle network. At a number of crucial transitional moments, both in a physical sense and in relation to the cultural history, new monuments will be designed. The high point is the moment when the Linge 'leaps' over the motorway.