Competition: ‘A design for places left over after planning’, by Atelier HSL
Project: | There was an area of land left over where the HSL curves away from the Schiphol line. The provincial road, the N207, closes off the triangular space. The request was to create a visual intervention that does justice to the landscape and can serve as an orientation point. |
Location: | Haarlemmermeerpolder |
Client: | Atelier HSL |
Year: | 2003 |
A new landscape would be created in the polder with palms in line with a strong grid. An oasis? A plantation? It may seem impossible - palms in the polder - but nonetheless it was achieved. You could compare it to the whole landscape of the Haarlemmermeer, constructed by human hands and machines. The Trachycarpus fortunei, or Chinese Windmill Palm, can withstand the Dutch winter. Planted in rows, the palms seem to have found their place effortlessly in the polder. By day they wave to the travellers, and by night they stand, beautifully illuminated in the dark.