Where Two Worlds Meet
Reconnecting Land, Community, and Reef Through Bonaire’s Boulevard
C.N. Sweers (TU Delft - Architecture and the Built Environment)
S. Milinović – Mentor (TU Delft - Architecture and the Built Environment)
R.R.J. van de Pas – Mentor (TU Delft - Architecture and the Built Environment)
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Abstract
This project is set on Bonaire, Dutch Caribbean, more specifically, on the edge of land and water in the oldest part of town: the boulevard. Here two worlds meet: the underwater world, in older days rich with corals and marine life, and the public boulevard, a stone-built barrier that keeps the water out while serving as a social hub for gathering and connection.
Right now, the boulevard and the underwater world collide with a harsh divide. Here, the water crashes against a massive wall, and the coral appears damaged and ignored, while the boulevard remains spotless, neatly edged, and untouched.
Instead of a harsh devide, a sense of synergy could be created if the water and the boulevard would blend in to one another. Illustrating how life above and below the waterline could be linked, how inclusive, accessible public spaces on land might coexist with efforts to regenerate coral and preserve marine habitats underwater. If so, the boulevard would still be social, but, would become more alive, inspiring and more natural.
Growing up on Bonaire, I spent much of my childhood beneath the ocean’s surface. Marine preservation and coral restoration are very personal to me; I’ve witnessed how delicate these ecosystems are and how devastating neglect can be. The boulevard on Bonaire is the last publicly accessible stretch of waterfront in the built environment. It is a space of connection, yet just below it, the reef has nearly disappeared.
This project reflects an intertwined relationship at the edge of land and sea, a reminder of both the damage that can occur when these worlds are separated and the potential harmony that emerges when they are allowed to meet.