Pioneering Watchtower {SummerSchool NOP – 2012}

This project was created in the conext of Summer School 2012 at the Nordoostpolder, in collaboration with Jan Pieter Kaptain, Lars, Inge and Irma.

Bees are pioneers and establish colonies. When the polders were first inhabited as new land by the pioneers, watchtowers were used as tools to measure and divide the land. Nowadays, the land in the Nordoostpolder has a constant flow of people coming from abroad to work for seasons (usually Spring and Summer) in the farms and greenhouses. At the same time, Kuubkistens (wooden crates) are stacked and stored in warehouses and sheds.

Considering the kuubkisten as a basic construction unit (also being an unused and abundant resource), we wanted to allow the immigrant workers to have a space to explore the land in a different way, broader than they usually do.