The revitalisation project, called 'Navigating Tourism', focuses on the heritage site of Kinderdijk in the province of Zuid-Holland, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1997. Kinderdijk's historic water management system and landscape, with a striking contrast between the horizontal canals, dikes and fields and the vertical mill systems, are key elements of the site's universal value. The project focuses on the challenges posed by the influx of more than one million tourists per year to the small community of 790 inhabitants. The study compares Kinderdijk with another heritage village, Zaanse Schans, and identifies common problems such as tourist pressure and the need for better infrastructure. The proposed design aims to streamline tourist access while maintaining the integrity of the site and improving the quality of life for local residents. Key findings include the separation of different mobility flows, the creation of a centralised entrance and the separation of functions for tourists and residents. Currently, the point of arrival at Kinderdijk depends on the mode of transport chosen to reach the heritage site. New arrival points for boats and buses are therefore proposed, together with a car park just outside the core of the heritage area, in order to reduce the arrival points currently scattered throughout the area to one, so that all visitors arrive at the same point. A new entrance building, integrated into a reinforced embankment, will serve as a visitor preparation area and will include a cinema, restaurant and exhibition spaces. This building will be strategically located adjacent to the heritage area. The project also focuses on preserving the cultural memory of Kinderdijk's industrial past. The Pot Barn, an important historical building in the outer dike area, will be dismantled, restored and rebuilt, and will then form part of the new entrance complex. The Pot Barn was traditionally part of an ensemble of three barns that together functioned as a shipyard. The ensemble will be restored by rebuilding the trio on top of the new entrance building, preserving their original orientation and architectural details. One of the barns will act as a gateway to the tourist facilities and the other two will house communal areas for residents, creating a clear distinction between areas for residents and visitors. Overall, the project aims to strike a balance between tourism and heritage conservation, enhancing the visitor experience while respecting the needs of the local community and preserving the historic significance of the site.

This booklet is the attempt to synthesize the work developed by a multidisciplinary group of Master students from TU-Delft during the Landscape elective course OnSite. The course revolves around the design and the construction of a temporary project in a landscape setting, preceded by extensive exploration of the site. During the course, the students were given the unique chance to experience the land in multiple forms, and later on, feel the impact of their intervention. We were assigned to work in the area called Land of Chabot, located in the north of Rotterdam, where the famous painter Henk Chabot (1894-1949) used to live. The area is constrained by the Rotte River on the north, an untouched forested area on the right and a relic of the original agricultural polders and on the left. It is currently being cut in the middle by the construction of the A16 motorway, which leads to deep structural and symbolic transformation of the landscape. Chabot used to paint this landscape, evoking the essence of the land by his raw, harsh, and bold brushstrokes. Another powerful characteristic of his work are the different viewpoints from which he paints the land, bringing the viewers to experience its openness and contemplate the land to its fullest. Today, the land of Chabot is a fragment of an open farmland tissue that once surrounded the whole city of Rotterdam, and that has been profoundly changed over the years. The reason why this specific piece of land remains, is the construction of the A16 motorway that is now happening, after 30 years of planning. A huge contradiction arises due to the fact that the highway that is disrupting the land by carving it in the middle, is the very same reason why this land has been kept preserved over the years. During the design process of our intervention, we aimed to tackle the cultural and symbolic significance of this place, and mostly, what new meanings and ways to see this landscape could take place now, given its inevitable current transformations. We dived into Chabot’s paintings and tried to capture his shifting horizon - that is different when viewed from the Rotte than when viewed from the dike, from the house where Chabot lived and worked, or from the polder floor. Our intervention became an attempt to descend into this land in order to see it.