Hans De Pelsmacker

In the sports and recreation resort Hoge Wal in Ertvelde there is a site on which the Count of Flanders had a little fortified castle built in the 11th century. It was situated on an artificial and walled hill. The hill – called "the Motte" – and the walls still exist today and are protected as historical landscape. The municipality of Evergem asked to create a design that "forms a dialogue between the Motte and the visitors of the resort". The Motte has an unusual, unnatural form and place in the landscape of which it is still part after centuries. The concept for this functional design has grown from my first contact with this site. My experience was looking in amazement. Another observation was the dynamics of the location: a lot of joggers, playing children and walkers.

To keep the landscape as intact as possible, the concept is a low and flat platform of 4m x 4m and 40cm height, consisting mainly of casts of real branches and loggings. In this way the design becomes a natural element in the landscape, like a bush or a hedge. The structure representing the branches reach from ground level till seat height and changes into a purely flat form where people can sit on to look in amazement to a strange settlement of olden days. Only when the Motte is not visible, one can see the design in its entirety, i.e. when the spectator is standing right on top of the Motte itself. From above and from a distance the entire form and the specific location of the design is visible in the landscape. The design is placed as such that it points into a specific direction with respect to wind and/or place. The light element can emphasize that direction and give the design another identity when darkness descends over the landscape.

Material: concrete
Commissioned by the municipality of Evergem
Realisation: June 2010