Van Eesteren Chair

The Van Eesteren Chair was established at TU Delft in 2013. It is funded by the EFL Foundation, the Delta Programme IJsselmeer Region and Delft University of Technology. During the period 2013-2016, the chair will focus on 'urban planning in relation to the physical conditions of the Dutch delta landscape'. The research area concerns the IJsselmeer region, in which Cornelis van Eesteren was intensively involved during his lifetime.

The chair is part of the Urbanism Department of the Faculty of Architecture and is headed by Prof. Ir. Frits Palmboom. The chair also consists of Saline Verhoeven, Paul Broekhuisen and Daan Zandbelt.

Delta paradox
The study is directly related to the Delta Programme IJsselmeer Region. The aim is to illustrate and provide insight into the spatial consequences of (large-scale) decisions at delta level on the basis of specific locations such as image-defining cross-sections, linkage points and systems. The spatial and physical effects of changes in the delta system are linked. To this end, a bridge is built with knowledge from spatial planning, landscape architecture, water management and ecology.

The so-called 'Delta Paradox' forms the starting point of the study. On the one hand, there is the natural system, characterised by endless gradients, spatial continuity, dynamics and unpredictability. On the other hand, there is the pressure of population, intensive agriculture and urbanisation, which demand control and the exclusion of risks as much as possible.

In the IJsselmeer region this has led to the continual splitting up of compartments into independently manageable units and the drawing of additional defence lines, with the Afsluitdijk and Houtribdijk as the most obvious examples. It is becoming increasingly clear how much this is at odds with the natural system, which has still not recovered from the change from a salty sea arm to a freshwater inland sea.

Three tracks
The study follows three tracks: firstly, the spatial qualities of the IJsselmeer region are studied and recorded in an Atlas of the IJsselmeer region. Secondly, the optimisation of the water system in the long term will be studied, with possible strategies for more natural dynamics, with an emphasis on the Houtribdijk zone. This will be done by organising publicly accessible knowledge conferences and setting up a think tank. Thirdly, the added value of possible future design strategies for the Dutch Delta Metropolis is being investigated.

link: http://www.bk.tudelft.nl/over-faculteit/afdelingen/urbanism/organisatie/van-eesteren/