This graduation project is based upon the brief of the fifth Eo Wijers competition, 'Who's afraid of the empty programme?' The competition posited two key issues which this scheme purports to answer: What does an empty programme mean for the possibilities of exploiting qualities that are typical of the northern regions of this country? And: How is a designer to guide and see through processes of change that ordinarily proceed of their own accord? Triton's point of departure is the quality peculiar to the Northern Netherlands: quiet, space and water in abundance and the uncustomary scale and dimensions. The plan secures and expands the scarce commodities of peace and quiet, space and clean water. To this end, it increases the amount of water present both above and below ground. Water not only anchors the space and the sense of tranquillity, it is an all-encompassing supraregional system, a natural source and a means of structuring the design.

The scheme was then fleshed out in accordance with a number of ordering principles. In the abiotic ordering principle each of the four areas in the region is given its own place in the water system. The northern area of marine clay gets a water system whose level is regulated by the catchment and draining off of polder water. In the peatlands the entire water management can be regulated per lot. The tableland of Drenthe (Drents Plateau) does duty as infiltration tank and in the low-lying peat meadowlands the water is buffered in lakes and marshes. The river valley as ordering principle plays a major part in view of the importance of such valleys for the water system as a whole. The principle takes into account the gradient from high to low. Meandering so as to retain the water longer, the river ends in a large lake which like the marsh acts as a water buffer. The economic ordering principle encourages a concentration of industry and trade along the major infrastructural lines. Besides the fast-developing Groningen-Amsterdam axis (by way of Drachten and Heerenveen) certain lesser axes (Harlingen-Leeuwarden, Groningen-Delfzijl and Drachten-Groningen) are of significance. The northern marine clay area is optimized for large-scale dairy and arable farming so that the area keeps its openness and its character. In the Friesian area of inland seas aquatic sports and leisure holidays are a major economic boost.

Finally, in the core area there is an interplay between the abiotic and economic systems. This is fleshed out for the Heerenveen-Drachten region. At the macro planning level, dwelling, working and leisure follow the infrastructure. At the micro level another ordering principle obtains. Trade and industry are concentrated at the cities and scattered along the infrastructural axes. Dwelling and recreation by contrast mesh with the abiotic system to such an extent that both space and quiet can be experienced to the full.

Place of education: LU Wageningen
Specialization: landscape architecture
Tutors: Michaël van Buuren & Klaas Kerkstra