Case Study Krabbeplas

The goal of the art project Krabbeplas is to seek out the new functions and qualities of an already existing recreational area. The central premise of the Case Study Krabbeplas (CSK) is the present functioning of De Krabbeplas and the meanings it incorporates as a recreational area. The aim of the research is to study the programming, design and meaning of contemporary recreational areas in general and of De Krabbeplas in particular. An integrated format was chosen in which both artists and writers, landscape architects and scientists could play a role.

Recreation without commercially-driven fun
For centuries people have, for their personal pleasure, been using the great outdoors and landscape has always been a product of human intervention. However the difference between those days and the present is that the landscape has now become a tradable good. It has become a product that needs to be sold. Urbanites go to the country to seek pleasure and find their roots and the country has, for a significant proportion of the population, become ‘an emotion’. Just like any other product, the green earth needs to partake in product renewal.

An example of one of these desired ‘product renewals’ can be found in the recreational area, ‘De Krabbeplas’ which was constructed in the 1970’s. It lies within the district of Vlaanderen and is a part of the Recreatieschap Midden Delfland, an extensive new recreational area situated between Delft, Schiedam, Vlaardingen, Maassluis and the Westland. At the time, the Krabbeplas was designed according to the assumed need for calm and space but this concept of recreation is nowadays considered to be obsolete. Shifting demands and interests play a part in this including the aforementioned commercialized demand for ‘fun’ which has recently emerged in the Netherlands.

Aim
The aim of Case Study Krabbeplas is to create new forms of use that can, eventually, lead to physical adaptations or transformations of the landscape. In order to achieve this goal, a plan was designed that included the carrying out of a number of pilots.

Pilot 1
For the first experiment in 2005, MA.AN and Martine Herman were approached to develop and realize occupational strategies in cooperation with the public. Their proposal, 'De Grote Beheershow' (The Big Maintenance Show), was presented on 1 December 2005.
Although, De Grote Beheershow did not focus on alternative uses of the area, it did reveal an ‘alternative perspective’ on this area of land. De Grote Beheershow brought the area into the spotlights from a maintenance perspective. It transformed important knowledge about the regular maintenance of De Krabbeplas into a cultural activity.

Since the artists from 2005 concentrated on ‘that which already exists’, it would be interesting if the next pilot does not focus on existing elements but, instead, questions them by offering alternatives that comply with the original aims. One feature of this case study is that it continually responds to previously gained results. This also applies to the series of pilots.

Pilot 2: by the Hans Venhuizen agency.
In 2007 new uses will be the central focus. New uses by new target groups.
Venhuizen was expected to develop a conceptual framework that zooms in on the question ‘In what way can these plots of land in this particular area regain meaning by temporarily putting them at the disposal of Vlaardingen’s organizations and/or individuals? The issue on how this area can be ‘recharged’ is interesting in this particular case as we are dealing with the most literal meaning of the word ‘space’ since these plots of land do not feature any physical buildings or other structural forms.
A new land use plan for de Krabbeplas and its residents was given the green light on 18 November 2006 during the launch of the Claim-campaign on Blauwalgdag, an event organized by Bureau Venhuizen (planning agency).
In the summer of 2007, on 22nd, 23th and 24th of June during Claim Krabbeplas, the plots of land were put into use and plans were presented.
For a period of several months various activities took place on the plots of land and in the autumn the results are presented in a format that will propose new purposes for de Krabbeplas and Midden-Delfland.

The preceding events...
The first phase of the project took place in the summer of 2002 and consisted of a so-called ‘philosophical expedition’. Mohammed Benzakour, Yvonne Dröge Wendel, Jan Dirk Hoekstra, Toine Horvers, John Jansen van Galen, Suchan Kinoshita and Maarten van Wesemael were approached to illustrate their impressions of the area.

The second phase consisted of a two-day workshop that took place in February 2003. Three teams comprised of Paul Combrink, Yvonne Dröge Wendel, Cor Geluk, Govert Grosfeld, Joost van Hezewijk, Jan Dirk Hoekstra, Piet de Jonge and John Lonsdale were given the assignment to further investigate the possibilities of the Krabbeplas’ current programme based on the results of the workshop and to develop possible alternatives thereto.

Two of the proposals that arose from the workshop center on the development of new forms of use of the landscape. Both teams tackled the deregulation and dynamization of the use and maintenance of the area. In both proposals plots of land are granted for shorter or longer periods and developed by the parties that have (temporarily) acquired them. Hereby one could consider groups that seek to embark on new forms of recreation, educational groups, cultural entrepreneurs or social interest groups.

In the third workshop in which, among others, town planner Cor Geluk participated, a proposal was developed in which the Krabbeplas would serve to give new impetus to the restructuring of the Westwijk. They proposed a blending of habitation, ‘green’ and water.

The third phase of the project consisted of developing the results of the three workshops. This was done by Esther Didden in consultation with the advisory board (Bert van Meggelen, Govert Grosfeld and Dees Linders). The results of the workshops that took place reveal a need for vision in cultural management. Two questions that respectively relate to the participants and the visitors are at the heart of the matter:
1. How can people be induced into developing plans and activities for a plot of land?
2. How can people be induced into moving into the Krabbeplas area in search of new activities?