Borderscape

Abstract

The sea dike is a spatial interim in the dialogue between human at land and natural forces at the Wadden sea. Standing on the dike gives me a feeling of conquest but also of separation. It stands out as a green wall between two worlds and stretches in the wide, open landscape as far as my eyes can see. This narrow edge has once been marshlands, a gradual transition between land and sea. Now, the dike abruptly excludes the exchange of the natural phenomena between them. Seawards, the tidal gullies are hardly visible as the sedimentation is too high. On the other side, on reclaimed land, straight ditches regulate the fresh water level to serve the big agricultural plots. The modernization of the last centuries has led to a functional coastal landscape in the Northern Netherlands with hardly any ecological, economic and social development along the dike. Instead, people have turned their back against the sea and forgotten the existence of, and potential coexistence with, it.

A dialogue is a continuous process. The increasing tidal volume and effect of salinization caused by relative climate change asks for a new perspective on the edge between land and sea. To what extent will we hold on to the belief that the dike as a thin, rigid line will protect us in a sustainable way against change? In my project these effects are not seen as threats but as a stimulus to deal with uncertain outcomes in spatial design. Creating a gradual transition zone will increase the level of resilience and establish ecological and social development.

Looking at natural ecologies, the edge is after all the zone of the highest living activity. Making the dike more permeable has many gradations but in all cases the existing landscape with its traces will be taken as found. Using site-specific differences in topography, soil type and water infrastructure including the generic processes, will help to locate the suitable level and type of permeability. Revealing and reintroducing natural phenomena in different forms will make the narrative of the coastal dynamics in this landscape legible again.