Saidja Heynickx

The project is situated in the north-eastern part of Maastricht, which is marked by old military defence
facilities and is punctuated by a hectic road. As far as urban design is concerned, we took the landscape
image (the tension between ‘low’ and ‘high’, the presence of the underground constructions) as a starting
point, but we incorporated it into a vision for the future. The educational centre for nature, a part of this
project, was worked out in detail.

The landscape image is always a denial of the historical image. It speaks about a world of
representation and not about the pure nature of space: through time, an image of space is created, not
found. By conceptualising that image of space in the project, it is possible to generate activities. In this
way, urban design becomes a palimpsest: it carries both time and matter.
Borders always imply edges. The military constructions, a defensive border in the past, degenerated
over time: they became edges. On the other hand, borders can also create edges on the cultural and
material memory.
‘Being inscribed’ therefore not only means the integration of historical lines, nor can it only be seen as
an act of confirmation. It also points in the direction of another process: one of filling-in., a mainframe of
borders and edges.

The area is one of sharp ‘cross-overs’ and deep experiences: on every edge there is a confrontation with
another reality. An old gunpowder room in the underground is connected with the main building. Under
the visible surface, all senses are evocated in separate rooms designed for educational purposes. A
“manhole” forms the only contact with the outside world. The main building, by contrast, is crucial for
that outside world: it ‘absorbs’ not only traffic, but also the walking activity on the defences.

SCHUNCK cannot guarantee the correctness of content and expression. The participants themselves are responsible for their entries. The copyright of the projects underlies to the authors, any reproduction or use of the shown material is strictly forbidden.