Design of the Encounter

With the studio ‘Design of the Encounter’ the intervention will aim at creating meaningful encounters between humans, animals, plants and the landscape. For this project the Maasvlakte II was the designated point of departure. It is the last artificially man made geographical addition to the main port of Rotterdam. It’s an industrial area with surrounding dunes, beaches and the North Sea coast line. Since the 1970’s Maasvlakte was the entrance point for container ships and oil carriers. It consists of large industrial landscapes, piles of containers and large wind turbines. The newly built dunes and beaches were a normal local phenomenon before the industrial expansion and are now reintroduced.

The intervention takes place along the axis of a section through dune, beach and tidal coast. Passing each section, one or more installations provide the experience of the encounters. The beginning of the section marks the connection with the industrial Botlek background one sees in the form of wind turbines towering above the dunes edges. When proceeding to the beach section, shape, material and texture move further away from industrial Botlek and start to tell a story about natural decay and. When passed the beach, the coastal installation ends the allegorical section with a transient installation. Each of the three segments represents a way in which to encounter the Maasvlakte: observing in the dunes, interacting on the beach, and retreating at the coast.

Dune | Observing

The first installation is located in the dunes. It consist of a tower in which visitors can observe on each floor in different ways. The different angles and frames provide different type of encounters with the environment. The spaces inside are carved out in a way to fully focus on the experience of observing the surroundings.

Beach | Participating

The second installation is located on the beach. It consists of a single tidal pool that visitors can enter. The pool has more disintegrated structure with floating pools and a climbable bird tower. The tidal pool brings in the coastal inhabitants such as crabs and mussel, on which the local bird species feed. The encounter takes place while exploring the pool, interacting on its structure and getting close to whatever grows and lives there. The water in the tidal pool allows for grades of encounters through its (lack of) accessibility and shelter for the animals.

Sea | Retreating

The third and last installation is in the tidal zone. It consists of a long pier and a tall bird tower in which humans can retreat. The pier and tower show the later stage of the transient process. This is translated in the rugged material and disintegrated pier elements. These different elements provide different encounters with its inhabitants, while also beholding the foraging birds. Within the tower one can get closer tot he birds through its mysterious internal skeleton.