Atlantic Wall in new perspective
Graduation project
Amsterdam Academy of Architecture
Hidden behind the gates of the water abstraction area south of Katwijk, a massive concrete wall cuts mysteriously waving through the landscape. The 1.5 km long tank wall in Katwijk is a historic remnant of the Atlantic Wall, one of the largest defence works (5000 km) Europe has ever known, built in the Second World War.
The project for me is about creating a moment of interaction between person and relict, to let the heritage tell the story. The design is creating a balance between object and interventions. By maintaining the authenticity, but allow usage. By creating a context, but also the freedom to interpret and discover. One of the main interventions is making the area around the tank wall publicly accessible. This creates a new route across the dunes.
Where once the wall was whole, new interventions reconnect the remaining structure of the wall to the coast. Stairs are placed along the route, to have moments of confrontation with the wall. Sometimes from a distance, sometimes close by. Others make it possible to walk along or on top of it. The route ends in the higher sea dunes, where as in the defence system, land, water and sky meet and where the local structure of Katwijk meets the immense European line of the Atlantic Wall.
The whole route creates a moment of reflection, a new perspective.