The Europan 11 winning proposal by CUAC Arquitectura, Serrano + Baquero Arquitectos, and Luis Miguel Ruiz Aviles arises Niwu Water Garden by the ensounter of three main materials: water, city and farmland. In a scenic enclave of particular importance to the city of Leeuwarden an appropriate balance between these materials allows to think about a hybrid landscape which establishs a transition between rural and urban. The result is a new environment in which elements of the city (the traditional and the present) establish a proper dialogue with the existing agricultural plot and its associated infrastructure. More images and architects’ description after the break.
The broad area of intervention (about 19 ha) opens the opportunity to create a unique residential area on the water side. Thus, the scale of the proposal allows to research on the development of an urban deployment model with regards to the relation between houses and water in Leeuwarden. Each and every one of the 450 proposed residential units, including community facilities, will have a special and direct relationship with the channel. The water network will become the main road for some future residents, from a boat will have direct access to the garden of their home. NIEU WAter gaRDEN becomes a landscape designed for true water lovers.
NIEU WAter gaRDEN, a new image of preexisting significant result, tradition and memory. The aim of the competition site has some traits that enhance the proposal. We understand the idea of place in a comprehensive manner. We discuss this concept of three complementary ways:
1- The place as a location and physical space. 2- The place as a result of a technological tradition, constructive and typological . 3- The place as a space for collective memory, where the city’s past emerges to support the present.
The identity associated with the urban is going to be established through the pre-existing, the tradition and the memory, arguments can reveal the character of a particular landscape. It is to rescue, turning a peripheral and suburban space in a new location capable to foster its own identity. From the local heritage we can build a contemporary image of European urbanity.
Architects: CUAC Arquitectura, Serrano + Baquero Arquitectos, Luis Miguel Ruiz Aviles Location: Leeuwarden, Netherlands Contributors: Cristóbal Adrián García Almeida, José Enrique Iniesta Molina, Alejandro Pedro López Fernández, Alejandro Carlos Galindo Durán, María de Lara Ruiz, Juan Bachs Rubio, Elena María Lucena Guerrero Competition: Europan 11, first prize
