Just as the Red Sea once yielded to Moses, so too the Zuiderzee seems to have yielded to the Afsluitdijk. To the north side of this endless barrier dam lies the sea, where winds and tides have held sway for centuries. On its south side the sea has been mastered by man, but is still restless. Fascinated by this landscape I wanted to enhance the Afsluitdijk's present qualities of landscape and function and at the same time effect a spatial and economic interaction between the Northern Netherlands on one side of the dam and the Randstad on the other. The developed concept seeks to relate the two shores by processing the dynamics of the natural and humanized landscape. Most striking is the difference between the close-knit landscape of the former Zuiderzee shores and the image of the new rational polders with their long straight lines. By intensifying the contrast and diversity of the shores the landscape quality of the Afsluitdijk is strengthened, generating a single close-knit shorescape.

The landscape contrast is heightened at Den Oever, where the dam meets the western shore. By contrast, the emptiness at the dam's eastern termination at Dudok's monument, is retained. This strategy, together with a pattern of islands designed for the occasion between Den Oever and Friesland, unites the Afsluitdijk with the waters of Waddenzee and IJsselmeer and with the provinces of Noord-Holland and Friesland. This enables Friesland to reach out towards the Randstad. Barrier becomes bridge.

The islands, premised on the former flow patterns of the Zuiderzee, are shaped by various land forms and water, the rugged and the gentle. Each has its own function to fulfil; the programme runs the gamut from aquatic leisure pursuits to housing. The present ridges of the once dynamic flow patterns of the Zuiderzee lay the basis for modest interventions in IJsselmeer. By sensitively responding to the existing shorescapes the relationship between humanized and natural land will be strengthened, encouraging a dynamic landscape where man and nature can each find a place of their own.

'The sea becomes the stillest lake,
the blue horizon a ring;
oppressive as a coil of steel,
each pier a useless thing.'

From 'De Kleine Ballade der Zuiderzeevissers' (The little ballad of the Zuiderzee fishermen - A. Visser)

Place of education: TU Delft
Specialization: urban design
Tutors: Willem Hermans, Chris van Ees & Hein de Haan