No Dutch landscape has been more shaped by human hands than that of Flevoland, situated on the bed of the former Zuiderzee and a good four metres below sea level. This largest land reclamation project in the world, conceived as the primary food supply for the Netherlands, was created from start to finish on the drawing board: with precisely mapped-out farmland, roads and canals. In the Noordoostpolder , even the towns and villages were planned in such a way that, back when many people did not yet own cars, every village was within cycling distance of the ‘big town’ of Emmeloord. Nature was also given a place, and although it is still relatively new here, you wouldn’t know it from the lush forests and vast nature reserves.
Deltawerk// is a colossal work of art situated in the waters of the Waterloopbos in Marknesse. With Deltawerk//, the artists pay tribute to the hundreds of hydrological studies carried out in the Waterloopbos during the last century. The inspiration for the artwork is the Deltagoot, which was built in the forest in the late 1970s. In this concrete colossus, nearly 200 metres long, waves several metres high could be generated, which were used, amongst other things, to test the storm surge barrier in Zeeland. Hence the name ‘Deltawerk//’. The concrete, once straight and in a neat line, now stands askew and crooked. Plants such as (crust) mosses and ferns are growing on it, slowly turning the artwork green.
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Tucked away behind a farm field and the Zwartemeerdijk near Kraggenburg lies the landscape artwork PIER+HORIZON. The metre-long pier in the Zwarte Meer is surrounded by floating, reed-covered islets. The work speaks to the landscape and history of the Noordoostpolder. The pier draws inspiration from the breakwater that existed even before the land was reclaimed, leading to the nearby Vogeleiland. And the horizon speaks to the vastness of the landscape; in the Noordoostpolder , the horizon is always in view. A large part of the Zwarte Meer is a protected nature reserve. You realise this immediately when you stand at PIER+HORIZON. Looking out over the water, you can see thousands of birds on and around the water, such as the rare great reed warbler.
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