Lunetten, 2002-2008

Lunetten is situated enclosed in an enormous car- and train traffic junction on one side, bordered by the edge of historic Lunetten (detached  fortress in the form of a bastion) on the other. It looks as if the urban developers of the area struggled with this splits of contrasts. In its structure the area has been developed like a village, the streetnames however refer to exotic regions and distant mountain ranges; via the Matterhorn you reach the Jungfrau, and then you arrive at the Olympus via the Etna.

In order to stimulate this longing for distant regions, based on the silhouettes of the above mentioned mountains, we designed a new mountain range. This mountain range too has been developed in splits. The first designs stayed close to their original contours (of the Matterhorn, Jungfrau, Etna and Olympus) but by various rules and construction requirements to comply with, the slopes on one side got steeper and high, on the other low and rounded off. The valleys changed from sharp and pointed into flat and wide. The mountain needed to be long-winded in her development, but it has been advantageous for her. By this it has become a specific mountain for Lunetten. The work is situated on the spot of the partly removed art work by Koos Flinterman and Jan van Wijk. The remaining parts have been brought out as a raised quay-wall with a terrace fitted in. In the evening the peaks of the mountain are highlighted in an colourscheme that resembles the sky from dusk till dawn.

Commissioned by the municipality of Utrecht. In collaboration with Jelske de Beer.