Apartments Jistrum

The area east of Bergummermeer is recognizable by the ‘woudenlandschap’. The cultivated fields are bordered with hedges and wooden ramps. The landscape near Jistrum is mainly meadow with artificial green borders with trees and bushes.
In this area we see forest-houses standing completely free on the plot. No reference to the other buildings or context. They’re completely surrounded by trees and bushes. The wooden ramps form the property borders with large natural and rural value.
An apartment-complex in a small village like this is a rare element. The dwelling interferes differently with the surrounding. An opportunity for a new image, in which rural living stays evident for the elderly born and raised in this area. The wooden ramp is given a completely new meaning; it becomes part of the complex. The characteristic landscape and the dwelling have a new relationship, but with the same intensity. The function of the wooden ramp stays the same: it brings shadow, shelter, protection and forms the border of a plot.
The apartment complex ascends in the opposite direction of the village. Perforations in the block brings it in proportion and are see-troughs to the landscape.
The wooden ramps and waterways together form a long attached grid for flora and fauna. They have large rural value. Unless the necessity to expand the village, the main value is to keep the rural character alive. This formed the main concept behind the whole design.

Ordering party: Woonfriesland
Location: Jistrum
Realization: 2007
Photography: Peter van der Knoop