Polderpark Cronesteyn

Krijn Giezen occupies himself with projects in which art, nature and life intermix. Since 1985 he has been involved in the design of the Cronesteyn polder park, which the city council of Leiden laid out on the edge of the city center. Giezen made many design proposals for the park but only a few were used in an adapted form. For example a children’s farm cum visitor’s center and a hothouse were built. This hothouse is made up of four rooms measuring six by six meters. Each room has a specific function tailored to each season. For instance there is a ‘heated cage’ (a heated heap of compost) that supplies heat to the floor-heating system in the adjacent ‘winter lodging’. The ‘summer lodging’ is made up of a leaf-covered pergola that, together with a willow windbreak, complements the heap of compost.

Giezen firstly designed this hothouse for a competition put together by the city council of Almere. However, for financial reasons, the work could not be realized. The work represents a combination of utopia and functionality. After all, whether people can really live in hothouses is highly questionable.