OPEN LANDSCAPEAndrius Ropolas

OPEN LANDSCAPE

“Nature is not natural and can never be naturalized” — Graham Harman

IntroductionUrban sprawl in Belgium exists equally trough all the country. As it is known (Pascal De Decker, 2011) it did not happen from chaos, but it was outcome of planning. Our research area between Oostende, Brugge and Blakanberge is not exceptional in this sense. This area is framed by the coastline where smaller towns are situated (Oostende, De Haan, Wenduine, Zebrugge) and on south-east by Brugge.

Area was primarily occupied by farms and used for farming purpos-es. Because of very low density it has a lot of unbuilt space which is usually regarded as “leftover space” or “space in between” as stated by XDGA in “After-sprawl” (2002). So there was no real strategy how to deal with these spaces.

Some of the recent proposals dealing with these areas are only focus-ing on spaces, landscape and experiences (XDGA’s research book “Af-ter-sprawl” or Office KGDVS with Bureau Bas Smets “Strategy for a lost landscape” - a research around Watou village in Belgium), however there is also another layer of information which is very important.

Although structure of the area today is the same as it was 50 or even 100 years ago, functions are changing. By estimations in research area there are around 350 farm-like structures, but already at least 30 of them are hotels, bed and breakfasts or restaurants. Exact number of how many of them are converted to private villas is unknown, but we see an increasing demand for this. There are also a lot of farms which are or soon will be converted to other purposes.

Area map from 1707

These tendencies shows that there is increasing demand for country-side, not only as farming area, but also as residential, touristic, lei-sure, shopping, event space. Same ideas are shared by Rem Koolhaas (dezeen.com, 2011). In addition, he describes a reality that in Western Europe in countryside there are more and more immigrants, more different cultures.

One of the reasons of these processes is that people do not have to sac-rifice anything living away from city, distance is not an issue anymore.

All our interviewed people in this area mentioned that open space and slow pace is one of the main reasons why they live here. However they often were going to closest cities for shopping and leisure. Their daily routine is not that much different from the ones living few kilometers away from city center.

By understanding these extra layers of functions and how people live, approach to landscape solutions and a view towards countryside itself also changes.

MindsetAfter understanding that people in countryside today live same life-style as people in cities, that countryside is absorbing functions from the city, that all nature in our research area is completely artificial, created by people, we cannot talk about this area as a countryside or nature anymore. It is a city.

However it is not an ordinary city we are used to talk about, it is very special city with different spatial logic which must be respected.

Cities are great for absorbing different needs, functions, people. All cities does that although in their structure, planning solutions they can

Diversity of functions

be very different. It means that structure can vary, but as long as there is diversity and a possibility of choice people and different functions can find their place.

Same applies to our area. We can use existing pattern of spread farms as starting point, but to be able to face reality and emerging need of hosting different people with different needs, different functions, diversity must be created.

It means our area cannot be seen as whole, as one unit. It is a city and it needs a lot of diversity, so finding and focusing on existing diversity and strengthening it is necessary.

Mapping, taking things piece by piece, finding irregularities in exist-ing pattern, talking with locals and better understanding importance of existing elements can help to find out that identical things are not identical anymore. After this actions can be taken.

StrategyFocus of this project is open landscape, fields. After researching all study area it was focused on the biggest unbuilt space – 2 by 2 km. It should be the place where openness should be experienced at its best.

Mapping revealed interesting connections of fields – to get to some fields, sometimes it necessary to cross 4 other fields. Area is very divid-ed by waterlines, ditches. It is like a maze, where exits and paths must be known.

Looking at connectivity to biggest surrounding cities and towns (Brugge, Weinduine, Blankenberge) revealed that some of the exist-ing roads do not play any importance in connectivity. Spatial study of area from eye height showed what are key elements creating identity of place or visually polluting perspectives. Talking with people living

Biggest unbuilt space

around this area revealed difference in financial status and interest in area they live in.

Further research revealed that area is a part of Natura2000 project, and is being slowly renaturalized and made as a habitat for birds and some sorts of vegetation.

This area can be as a park in a city – a place where speed is slow, a place for experience, and mental freedom, where logics do not play important role, where spaces can be just beautiful and it is completely enough.

Creation of secondary connection system, removing car traffic from roads which are not vital, making new paths for pedestrians, bicycles and working with landscape as building material is just one side of the strategy.

The most important part of this area is edge. It is an element which defines the size of openness. It is a place where you first enter the open fields and it is defined by buildings, by people living. So working with people and their habitat on the edge is another part of the strategy.There are private villas and farms. Wealthy people and people with financial issues. Some trying to hide themselves from everybody and others being open.

By combining spatial, infrastructural solutions and personal needs of people – synergy can be created, so openness and people living on the edge could benefit from each other.

SolutionsAs there is strategy of diversity on very big scale, same applies to this open landscape area. Different actions in different parts are taken, al-ways looking on specific qualities from different points of view. Some

Necessary roads to connect to main cities and villages

elements are just left for time, people and nature to do their job, some are rearranged, cleaned or removed. Spaces and places are connect-ed or disconnected. Area is not monogamic, it is diverse, but in very delicate way. To change the way people move and act in this area and at the same to improve spatial quality of area, is not difficult – removing unnecessary roads already creates very different situation. By doing so, connectivity is not sacrificed, however some roads and farms becomes a dead end. It means that some villas and farms from being on the passing way turns to be final point on the road. They become gates to landscape. But it can be done only if a last farm on the dead end road is open. It cannot fence itself from area. Otherwise gate to landscape is closed.

Other villa type farms are often closing and fencing themselves from the area, so this can be emphasized even more, by building with land-scape around them and visually deleting them from area.

Landscape as a building material can also be used for visually manag-ing perspectives and helping to emphasize key elements of area.

For this, six 360 degrees panoramas from different locations from within area were explored. After tracing and simplifying all existing structures, compositions of rhythm, framing, balance, nuance, con-trast, emphasizing, overlap were applied.

Some classical paintings of landscape were used as reference to find the way for arranging elements in space. In Claude Monet painting “Poppy field near Vétheuil” space and perspective is strengthened by having 4 women standing in different distances from each other in a poppy field. There is a contrasting panorama of a village and greenery in the back - this gives impression of something being in big distance from point of view. Same principles are applied in eastern part of area,

Division of space after connecting all the fields

Claude Monet - Poppy field near Vétheuil

Superstudio - Happy island

just instead of women, farms are those reference points for perspec-tive and line of greenery in the background strengthens perspective. For this composition to work, some farms had to be visible, exposed - greenery instead of framing farms outside was moved in between structures and houses. New intimate space inside the plots with trees was made.

Another way of working with space can be found in Superstudio drawings. In their project “Happy island” space is shown by grid, lines going in perspective. It is simple, yet strong way of showing depth of space. This idea was applied for northern part of area by putting tree lines. At the same time rigid tree lines are pointing to city or from the city to fields, they strengthen perspective and frame two spatially different structures.

These methods are necessary for experience of space, because without having any spatial elements, its impossible to understand bigness or smallness of it. This is clearly visible in a scenes from George Lucas movie THX1138.

Water ways are diving fields, so landscape is not completely accessible, although sometimes to reach one field its necessary to cross few other fields, it is not possible to walk through all fields completely. But just by making few connections over water ways all fields could be easily connected to one big system where it would be possible to go from one corner of area to another entirely walking through fields.

Removing cars from some roads, makes them more open for people and cyclists. Hard surface of the road can be left for nature to take over, cracks and plants can appear - as long it is still possible to cycle and walk.

Area has to accommodate not only locals living on the edge, but also

Scene from a movie THX1138

people from greater area, other cities and tourists coming to the fields. And this demands some facilities. Perfect place for these facilities is the edge, open farms – gates to openness.

Parking space, a toilet, a bird watching tower and other small interven-tions in those farms can help to accommodate needs of people coming to this area and at the same time help to generate additional income for local farmers. People can give a piece of their land to public functions and also take care of those functions and in exchange receive money. These facilities must be placed well, so farm owners could still have their privacy and work space not interrupted by others. So farms are not converted to touristic farms, they just have next to them detached additional functions.

OutcomeAll actions taken have certain outcome. There is social, financial and spatial change happening.

Creating dead end roads not only changes how people move and helps to earn money for farmers, but at the same time creates different social relation with neighboring farms or villas. Because when road has a dead end it becomes more private and local, people notices more when somebody is coming or leaving.

Helping some farmers to generate additional income from public ser-vices they provide in their land helps to keep original farming func-tions in this area and keeps farms as one unit – a possibility for one family to take care of one farm.

Framing existing villas emphasizes their structure as one unit so own-ers can make any changes they want behind that frame – everything will stay as one unit.

This area becomes a place where natural elements are seen as a part of the villages and cities around. There is nothing unnecessary, every-thing has certain purpose. Just sometimes it if functional purpose, other times its spiritual, and sometimes it does not have any purpose on purpose. There is an extra dimension added to countryside - its no more only about farming and bicycle paths, but also about how people feel, what they can experience.

ReferencesXaveer De Geyter Architects, After-sprawl, 2002 Interview with Rem Koolhaas, http://www.dezeen.com/2011/10/07/dezeen-screen-rem-koolhaas-on-omaprogress/ Rem Koolhaas at Jencks Award 2012, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y97yXB82nWc Bas Smets and Office KGDVS, Strategy for Lost Landscape, 2009 Pascal De Decker, The Garden of Eden? Correspondence with Youngfarmers.org

Design studio project by Andrius Ropolas. Design Team 5 with Maria Moncada Bandera, Marita Rurua, Kaat Vandervelde. 2012-2013 autumn semester. Stu-dio instructors: arch. Bruno Peeters, dr. arch. Kris Scheerlinck. Theoretical component teachers: an-

throp. Leeke Reinders, dr. soc. Pascal De Decker