The internal borders in the European Union were opened more than twenty years ago. However, a comprehensive and coordinated spatial vision for the border landscape is yet to be composed. In their book BORDERLAND political geographer Henk van Houtum and landscape architect Mark Eker have taken up this challenge. Joined by academics, designers, artists and policy makers they explore the meaning and value of borders and the potential of cross-border landscape design. BORDERLAND contains provocative and inspiring ideas for the planning, design and geography of borders and the cross-border collaborations.
BORDERLAND presents a complete and profound study of the border and its direct surroundings. Eker and Van Houtum present a method to map the borderland and thoroughly discuss its cultural, philosophical, political and spatial dimensions. Subsequently they apply their visions on two specific areas at the Dutch-Belgium and the Dutch-German border, namely between Zeelandic Flanders and Waasland and between Nijmegen and Cleves. Here, in some places the border is consciously forgotten, to truly create one region, while in other places it is emphasised theatrically to create a longing for the other side. The study is supplemented by two photo reportages. Photographer Harry Cock approaches the border landscape with a special sense for striking details. Photographer Paul le Clercq portraits the inhabitants and the people that work in de border area.
Dutch Government Architect Frits van Dongen and Flemish Government Architect Peter Swinnen call the study a profound and multifaceted analysis of the ambivalences as to borders. In the preface of BORDERLAND they state that the authors side with the fast-growing group of investigators and policy-makers who are (re)discovering the border as a land and landscape of meaning.
At the book launch the renowned Dutch landscape architect Lodewijk van Nieuwenhuijze (H+N+S Landscape Architecture) stressed that inspiring design visions, such as offered in BORDERLAND, are essential to start changing the general attitude towards the landscape of the border.
Contents
PREFACE
– by Frits van Dongen (Dutch Government Architect) and Peter Swinnen (Flemish Government Architect)
BORDERLAND
The beginning – by Henk van Houtum, Martine van Kampen and Mark Eker
ATLAS OF THE BORDER LANDSCAPE
Form and diversity – by Mark Eker and Henk van Houtum
Soils and land use – by Mark Eker
Drivers and qualities – by Mark Eker
LIFE IN THE LAND IN-BETWEEN
Photos – by Paul le Clercq
LANDSCAPE OF POWER
Self-evident and contested – the history of the Dutch border – by Hanco Jürgens
The end of the plan – the borders of crossborder policy – by Henk van Houtum, Geert van der Bruggen, Joren Jacobs and Mariska van der Giessen
‘Over there lies a land, another land’ – the border as a moral design – by Henk van Houtum
The power of difference – the origins and future of spatial variation – by Martine van Kampen
LANDSCAPE OF POSSIBILITIES
The unbound – views on the dissappearence of the border – by Gijs Wallis de Vries
A model for ambiguity – the border as a manyheaded monster – by Martine van Kampen
IMPRESSIONS OF THE BORDER
Photos – by Harry Cock
LANDSCAPE OF DESIGN
Scenarios for Flanders - Zeelandic Flanders – by Mark Eker
Reference: Nijmegen – Cleves – by Olga Russel
EPILOGUE
The borderland as a new beginning – by Mark Eker and Henk van Houtum
The internal borders in the European Union were opened more than twenty years ago. However, a comprehensive and coordinated spatial vision for the border landscape is yet to be composed. In their book BORDERLAND political geographer Henk van Houtum and landscape architect Mark Eker have taken up this challenge. Joined by academics, designers, artists and policy makers they explore the meaning and value of borders and the potential of cross-border landscape design. BORDERLAND contains provocative and inspiring ideas for the planning, design and geography of borders and the cross-border collaborations.
BORDERLAND presents a complete and profound study of the border and its direct surroundings. Eker and Van Houtum present a method to map the borderland and thoroughly discuss its cultural, philosophical, political and spatial dimensions. Subsequently they apply their visions on two specific areas at the Dutch-Belgium and the Dutch-German border, namely between Zeelandic Flanders and Waasland and between Nijmegen and Cleves. Here, in some places the border is consciously forgotten, to truly create one region, while in other places it is emphasised theatrically to create a longing for the other side. The study is supplemented by two photo reportages. Photographer Harry Cock approaches the border landscape with a special sense for striking details. Photographer Paul le Clercq portraits the inhabitants and the people that work in de border area.
Dutch Government Architect Frits van Dongen and Flemish Government Architect Peter Swinnen call the study a profound and multifaceted analysis of the ambivalences as to borders. In the preface of BORDERLAND they state that the authors side with the fast-growing group of investigators and policy-makers who are (re)discovering the border as a land and landscape of meaning.
At the book launch the renowned Dutch landscape architect Lodewijk van Nieuwenhuijze (H+N+S Landscape Architecture) stressed that inspiring design visions, such as offered in BORDERLAND, are essential to start changing the general attitude towards the landscape of the border.
Contents
PREFACE
– by Frits van Dongen (Dutch Government Architect) and Peter Swinnen (Flemish Government Architect)
BORDERLAND
The beginning – by Henk van Houtum, Martine van Kampen and Mark Eker
ATLAS OF THE BORDER LANDSCAPE
Form and diversity – by Mark Eker and Henk van Houtum
Soils and land use – by Mark Eker
Drivers and qualities – by Mark Eker
LIFE IN THE LAND IN-BETWEEN
Photos – by Paul le Clercq
LANDSCAPE OF POWER
Self-evident and contested – the history of the Dutch border – by Hanco Jürgens
The end of the plan – the borders of crossborder policy – by Henk van Houtum, Geert van der Bruggen, Joren Jacobs and Mariska van der Giessen
‘Over there lies a land, another land’ – the border as a moral design – by Henk van Houtum
The power of difference – the origins and future of spatial variation – by Martine van Kampen
LANDSCAPE OF POSSIBILITIES
The unbound – views on the dissappearence of the border – by Gijs Wallis de Vries
A model for ambiguity – the border as a manyheaded monster – by Martine van Kampen
IMPRESSIONS OF THE BORDER
Photos – by Harry Cock
LANDSCAPE OF DESIGN
Scenarios for Flanders - Zeelandic Flanders – by Mark Eker
Reference: Nijmegen – Cleves – by Olga Russel
EPILOGUE
The borderland as a new beginning – by Mark Eker and Henk van Houtum
