There was much hilarity when a group of students from the mastertracks Urbanism and Landscape Architecture (TU Delft) crossed over a muddy ditch when they wanted to visit one of the bunkers at Valkenburg Airfield as part of the Atlantikwall. The students visited airport Valkenburg, led by Nick Warmerdam, head of knowledge at Erfgoedhuis Zuid Holland. This military landscapes has numerous layers of layers of history dating back to the Bronze Age and having a strong connection to the Roman Limes, but primarily known as a military airfield near Katwijk and Wassenaar, where musical Soldaat van Oranje is still running.
This course is a collaboration between master students from TU Delft, Applied Archaeology from Leiden University, and Archaeology from Saxion University of Applied Sciences. This mixed group of students is analysing the multiple layers of history and narratives, reflecting on how the historical layering of Valkenburg Airfield can be utilized in plans for new construction and new nature areas. The question is which values are most important.
Debates
The main topic of this course is to discuss how designers and heritage specialists can and should design with sites that are controversial or harbor collective trauma, the so-called traumascapes. In the coming weeks, 50 students are preparing a design workshop taking place in May, in which various local partners will collaborate to develop new visions for these sites. These visions will be presented to local parties and incorporated into a broader vision for the Atlantic Wall currently being prepared. This broad elective is part of the LDE Programme Global Heritage and Development. The goal of this course is to learn to work interdisciplinary and develop a value system to balance the multiple spatial, societal and scientific values attached to these places.
The course is part of a broader education and research program surrounding traumascapes, an Dutch Science Agenda project NWA project in which Leiden and Delft, among others, are participating. Nowadays, there is increasing attention to heritage that has multiple voices. For inclusive design proposals, it is necessary to show not only the general or authorized opinion, but also that of the individual, minorities, and those who have suffered. Only when attention is paid to all voices can there truly be a joint and inclusive public space.
