[Un]finished is the story of a project about a bunker landscape, part of the Atlantic wall

(1942). On such a contested site, the bunker complex Rijksdorp near The Hague, tensions

between opposing forces are put on display. Is it a nature reserve only? Is it cultural

heritage? Is it war architecture?

As a memorial, this landscape wants to offer an experience of sensing the relationship

between lightness and horror, chaos and order. As a meditative “journey of awareness”

in a memory landscape. Themes of time, light and dark, pain and death, are evoked

and experienced. Coherence is achieved by accentuating a new center in the complex

devoted to a new ritual of disposing human and non-human bodies. As artistic expression,

this ritual about the transient nature of physical bodies marks itself as the transformative

heart of the site.

This challenge is a timely one. The war ruins of the Atlantikwall need more attention than

they have received until now. As a complex heritage they represent spaces of anxiety, and

trauma. Yet, they are often denied full understanding of this meaning as we are not able,

nor willing to look trauma into its eyes. The central questions then are: how may these

objects be brought to speak? How may the past serve the now?

Should we not aim to activate personal engagement, instead of showing history as a

passive image? How to reveal the vital, living character of such places that transcends

their history? Such negated sites present ‘intervals of possibility’, a ‘healing memorial’.

The starting point is the belief that architecture may come into being out of its own specific

place in the same way nature creates its own habitat from its own internal growth. Another

one is the urgency for concrete stories about the co-existence of architecture, history,

humans, animals, plants, and insects. Healing means: architecture, place, and stories are

intimately connected, helping to understand and accept the cycle of life.

No new architecture was needed, as everything was already there. The main approach

is to deal with the site as a three-layered composition that consists of landscape,

architecture, and program. Tools used are: Removing, drilling holes in both the bunkers

and the landscape. Replacing, often material removed will be reused. Connecting, walks

will link the different parts as a narrative together. The different bunkers and their inner

rooms will find a connection with each other and the landscape. Minimal adding, this will

enhance the role of the architectonic object.

The project concentrates on creating a coherent whole, where the visitor may follow a

narrative or easily create his own. The project intends to bring different rituals under one

roof, such as artistic, mournful, festive, and educational events.