Mecanoo has designed the largest artificial park in the world to date, a park designed to unite the city with nature, at the bottom of which was the old bay of Zuiderzee.
The design of the new park designed by Mecanoo, includes the implementation of new islands, marshes and water connections, which will unite the natural reserves of Oostvaardersplassen, Lepelaarplassen, Marker Wadden and Trintelzand, creating connections that will form a park designed to be visited as a adventure in different routes.
 

Description of project by Mecanoo
 

“Nieuw Land will be a new kind of national park, one in which visitor experience is central. The park will be an attractive and educational experience for all generations and will bring the city and nature closer together. It will feature many dikes, marshlands and reed landscapes, new islands, and even more flora and fauna - with space for rest,darkness to view the starry sky, wilderness and adventure.”

Francine Houben


Man-made nature park
The Nieuw Land National Park is the largest man-made natural park in the world. It is located near the metropolitan region of Amsterdam and sits on the bottom of the former Zuiderzee (Southern Sea). Nieuw Land covers 29,000 hectares and incorporates numerous existing nature reserves: the Oostvaardersplassen, the Lepelaarplassen, Marker Wadden and Trintelzand. These reserves would never have existed without the land reclamation works in Flevoland in the 1950s and 1960s – it was unintentional, in fact, that nature was given free rein over large areas of the reclaimed land.

Nieuw Land is first and foremost a bird reserve, with dozens of protected speciesattracted by the ample food supply and sheltered places for rest and breeding. The integration of four nature reserves into one National Park offers new opportunities for strengthening the ecological significance of Nieuw Land and for securing the future of this area. After all, Nieuw Land sits in the middle of a dynamic metropolitan region and will be impacted by climate change.

Robust ecosystem
The development of a robust and resilient ecosystem has been an ongoing process for several years; it includes the wetting of the Oostvaardersplassen area and the Lepelaarplassen, as well as the construction of new islands in the Marker Wadden and Trintelzand. The Nieuw Land masterplan is the next step in this process. The key nature reserves – Oostvaardersplassen, the Lepelaarplassen, Marker Wadden and Trintelzand – will be enlarged and the connections between them will be strengthened. Adding islands, marshlands, creeks, wet grasslands and water connections will create a continuous ecosystem. It will thus be easier for birds to forage in one area and rest or breed in another.

Accessible and adventurous
Over the next twenty years, the four nature reserves will gradually be connected to form a continuous park. At the same time, Nieuw Land will be made more accessible so that visitors will be able to discover the area by bike, canoe, on foot or with an electric Jeep. The existing rest areas along the kilometre-long dikes – the Oostvaardersdijk along the Markermeer, the Houtribdijk which cuts straight through the lake, and the Knardijk – will become the belvédères of Nieuw Land. In this bird paradise of international significance, visitors will be able to spot numerous bird species and enjoy a spectacular view. With the proposed Nieuw Land “nature station” (train station), the park will be easily accessible by train from the Amsterdam metropolitan region and other urban areas.

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Architects Arquitectos
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Francine Houben
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Client Cliente
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province of Flevoland, municipality of Almere, municipality of Lelystad, Staatsbosbeheerand Natuurmonumenten(two national public bodies and land owners of nature reserves, commissioned to conserve and develop green heritage), Flevo-landschap (regional public body for green heritage preservation and development in Flevoland), Rijkswaterstaat (Dutch ministry of infrastructure and water management),WaterschapZuiderzeeland (regional public body for water management in Zuiderzeeland)
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Area Superficie
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29,000 ha
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Years
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Design: 2018-2019
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Francine Houben (Holland 1955) began formulating the three fundamentals of her lifelong architectural vision while studying at the Delft University of Technology. It was in this crucible of higher learning that she began an architectural practice with two fellow students with the design of a groundbreaking social housing development. As a result, she graduated as architect with cum laude honours in 1984 and officially founded Mecanoo architecten with these same partners.

Francine has remained true to her architectural vision, Composition, Contrast, Complexity throughout her career. Always looking for inspiration and the secret of a specific location, Francine bases her work on both analyses and intuition. She enjoys interweaving social, technical, playful and humane aspects together in order to form a unique solution to each situation. Francine Houben combines the disciplines of architecture, urban planning and landscape architecture in an untraditional way; with sensitivity for light and beauty.

Her use of material is expressive. She is known as one of the most prolific architects in Europe today. Her wide-ranging portfolio comprises an intimate chapel built on the foundations of a former 19th century chapel in Rotterdam (2001) to Europe’s largest library in Birmingham (2013). Francine Houben’s work reveals a sensory aspect determined by form and space, a lavish use or subtle combinations of the most diverse materials, as well as planes of saturated colour. Francine’s contribution to the profession of architecture is widely recognized. She was granted lifelong membership to the Akademie der Künste, Berlin in 2010.

In 2008, she received the Veuve Clicquot Business Woman of the Year Award. Honorary fellowships to the American Institute of Architects and the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada, and an international fellowship to the Royal Institute of British Architects were granted to her in previous years. The past three decades have seen her cumulative effect on the profession of architecture. Francine lectures all over the world and takes part as a jury member in prestigious competitions.

Her commitment to research and education is evidenced in her instatement as professor in Architecture, Chair of Aesthetics of Mobility at the Delft University of Technology (2000), her professorship at the Universitá della Svizzera Italiania, Accademia di architettura, Switzerland (2000) and her appointment as visiting professor at Harvard (2007). Dedication to her alma mater is reflected in generous sponsorship of the UfD-Mecanoo Award for the best graduating student of the Delft University of Technology.

Francine Houben lives in Rotterdam, a modern city where the skyline is dotted with buildings designed by world renowned architects; including her award winning Montevideo Skyscraper (2005). It was in this dynamic city that she directed and curated the First International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam (2003), with the theme, ‘Mobility, a room with a view’. She has realised numerous signature projects throughout the Netherlands and Europe including Philips Business Innovation Centre, FiftyTwoDegrees in Nijmegen, (2005-2006), La Llotja Theatre and Conference Centre in Lleida, Spain (2009) and the Delft University of Technology Library (1999). Currently, she is expanding her architectural vision to other continents with the design of Taiwan’s largest theatre complex, The Wei-Wu-Ying Center for the Arts in Kaohsiung (2014), Dudley Municipal Center in Boston (USA) and Shenzhen Cultural Center (China). In 2011 the book Dutch Mountains was released, a chronicle of Francine Houben and eight special projects in five different countries.

Francine maintains an active presence in academia and culture, regularly publishing and giving lectures worldwide. She has performed in many academic and professional capacities throughout her career, including Chair of Architecture and Aesthetics of Mobility at Delft University of Technology, visiting professor at Harvard Graduate School of Design, and as director of the First International Architecture Biennale in Rotterdam.

Francine has received honorary fellowships from the Royal Institute of British Architects, the American Institute of Architects and the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada. In 2014 Francine was named Woman Architect of the Year by the Architects’ Journal and in November 2015 Queen Máxima of The Netherlands presented Francine with the Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds Prize for her wide-ranging career. Francine was awarded Honorary Doctorates from the Université de Mons, Belgium (2017) and the Utrecht University (2016).

“Architecture must appeal to all the senses. Architecture is never a purely intellectual, conceptual, or visual game alone. Architecture is about combining all the individual elements into a single concept. What counts in the end is the arrangement of form and emotion.”

Francine Houben, architect/creative director Mecanoo Architecten.

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Published on: March 2, 2019
Cite: "A new natural park for the city. Nieuw Land by mecanoo" METALOCUS. Accessed
<https://www.metalocus.es/en/news/a-new-natural-park-city-nieuw-land-mecanoo> ISSN 1139-6415
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