The diabolic highway On the tradition of the beautiful road in the Dutch landscape and the appetite for the magnificent highway in the big city

WILFRIED VAN WINDEN

van Winden, W. (2015). The diabolic highway. On the tradition of the beautiful road in the Dutch landscape and the appetite for the magnificent highway in the big city. Research In Urbanism Series, 3(1), 111-134. doi:10.7480/rius.3.835 the design of the urban highway lies the greatest challenge, and as yet few principles have been devised for it. KEYWORDS highway design; scenic road; urban planning; spatio-scenic approach The Diabolical Highway is, however, anything but that. There is no calm rust and everything is coincidental. They are roads in distinction a overly makes essay The tight experiences. metropolitan spaces, also but experiences, hectic between three types of highway, each of which is elucidated by an example: the parkway, the autonomous motorway and the diabolical highway. Thus in in the autonomous motorway. Aesthetic as well the as in sublime highway the ideals counterpart, urban of the beauty by grave the to carried however, are, Périphérique Boulevard the example, for Take, Highway. Diabolical the city: big in Paris, which is a Diabolical Highway without compare. We cast new our a of backbone minds the as parkway, his parkway, The Giedion. Siegfried to back freedom. and calm rust of feeling uplifting the motorist the gives planning, city for the highway. So the design of highways in the Netherlands does indeed boast an aesthetic tradition of no small measure. Therein Huizinga’s ‘spatially expressive approach’, the Dutch heir of the parkway and the Autobahn, has proven to be the leitmotif that courses from the beginnings right through to landscape of terms in counterpart its found has parkway The day. present the Here and there voices tenaciously proclaim purely is that road the no that and aesthetic Netherlands, the principles in highways are of laying the in applied technology. its of logic immanent the and engineering of art the of product the dimension forgotten almost an brings and unmasked is myth this essay the In into the limelight: the aesthetic design. Immediately after the Second World War, the engineer K.E. Huizinga explicitly gave shape to an aesthetic theory public space, but they are not part of our aesthetic culture. From the history of the landscape we know that the depiction impressionability of the painting were needed to of train the gaze. Appreciation follows the poet and the representation. Is there a schematic organisation of visual perception could assume the that role of yesteryear’s landscape painting in the present day? Abstract unable are us of most yet intensively, used are Netherlands the of highways The to summon up as much appreciation for them as we square, can park for or an landscape. attractive Highways may well be component parts of our

FLOWSCAPES–DESIGNING INFRASTRUCTURE AS LANDSCAPE 112 THE DIABOLIC HIGHWAY 113 ------In comparison to other Eu comparison to other In 1 This essay reveals a experience visual modern 2 OUTLINE INTRODUCTION The aesthetics of the motorway is partly due to a mysterious conspiracy The aesthetics of the motorway is partly due to a mysterious The motorway is attractive when the engineer has tailored his practical The motorway is attractive the engineer has when 2. Netherlands, in the explores of motorways the development This essay Motorways are used intensively, yet most of us cannot muster as much as much muster cannot of us most intensively, yet are used Motorways 1. ar per population world seventy Some cent of the will be living in urban with choreography. between ‘the desire for maximum velocity’, perspective’ the ‘dynamic and us how to bypass the mind and appeal to the heart, without the inter directly itself to comparison cession of the intellect. It lends with listening to music or watching a film and the experience of architecture,but secretly its pact is attractive motorway are a typical form is product of modernity: considered, as is time – their object being These principles spatio-temporal the form. show motorway design in the Netherlands. motorway design in the Netherlands. art to racing what the motorist along it will experience. The principles of the Western Europe (Crowe, 1960). Europe Western experiencea dynamic the space from and of time and that is universal: that perspective, against the backdrop of the specific historical development of ropean countries during the interwar years, the development of motorways in the interwar years, the development of motorways ropean countries during onwards was quite From the 1960s Germany advanced. and the Netherlands of rest the widespread across became more of motorways construction the especially their aesthetic design, especially their aesthetic design, as a case study. painting makes a motorway attractive? What What are the aes of yesteryear? thetic paradigms of motorway design? order to train the gaze we need to have the receptiveness of the poet the receptiveness of the poet and the to train the gaze order we need to have visualisation of the painting. begets appreciation. Portrayal sche So which matic dispositions of seeing today assume the role of would the landscape thetic culture; they have to make do with the status of banal and cursorily of banal and cursorily with the status to make do have they thetic culture; taught us that in has of the landscape history The perceived ‘surroundings’. appreciation for them as attractive for an square, park or Motor landscape. aes public space, but they play part no ways may well be in part our our of by eliminating barriers and an increasing interdependency (Nijenhuis & Van (Nijenhuis & Van by eliminating interdependency an increasing barriers and issue the be increasingly connected with planning will Winden, 1996). Urban design of infrastructure. of mobility and the questions. The future of the metropolis depends on the degree to which con on the degree to depends of the metropolis The future questions. networks are undergoing a devel gestion can Infrastructural be addressed. of an optimisation of mobility pursuit by the that is characterised opment eas by 2050, which poses the designers of these urban areas for major design areas for urban designers of these which poses the eas by 2050, ------, teaches Champs Elysées Champs to the to the Via Appia METHODOLOGY

The study proceeded from a widely accepted periodisation.The study The pre-war 3. This tradition is not very well documented and has until now been chart Immediately after the Second World War, the civil Huizin after the Second World engineer K.E. Immediately Here and there one encounters stubborn opinions stubborn one encounters no aesthetic that Here and there prin The history of roads, from the roads, from of history The ments and, of course, drove along all the roads. drove along all ments and, of course, period era, from 1920 to 1940, was reputed to be idyllic and romantic. The and technol from 1940 to 1960 was marked by the development of machine ed only sketchily. No accessible archives have been collated and much ma been collated and much have accessible archives No sketchily. ed only been lost, because of reorganisations extended timelines terial has and the of projects. The small amount of documentation has been general in nature, critique. We therefore chose to mentioning names, never mind any without design as possible. In of the people involved in motorway interview as many docu dispersed collected widely literature, of the addition we made a study in his writings, his lectures, his excursions and the course he taught about and the course his excursions in his writings, his lectures, does actually boast road design. The in of motorways design the Netherlands a considerable aesthetic tradition. This has its origins in the 1920s and along side Huizinga there were other designers within (the Dutch Staatsbosbeheer Forestry Commission) and Rijkswaterstaat, such and Nakken, who were part of this ethos. Zuurdeeg as Overdijkink, Elffers, fore: the aesthetic design of the Dutch motorway. fore: the aesthetic design of the Dutch Public Works for ga, Directorate-General Rijkswaterstaat (the an employee of and Water Management) explicitly fleshed out an aesthetic theory – but also wonderful with his designs – which were not only motorway, and for the ciples have been employed in the construction of motorways in the Nether in the of motorways construction in the been employed ciples have road is lands and that the product merely the of the art of engineering and the arguing are essentially criticasters These logic technology. of its immanent in of beauty the design process. This has been that there no conscious pursuit brings to the a well-nigh forgotten dimension and myth essay debunks this this: we lack this: we lack concept any how of the attractive in the city, motorway tailored no conception of a whatsoever We have ought to look. speed of today, to the lane. We or motorway avenue motorway boulevard, motorway contemporary laborious attempts poor and noise barriers, and with tunnels, are familiar only with addresses. the motorway into a city thoroughfare to tame and re-forge the irresistible ‘kinetic thrust’ of curves rolling onward without end. without onward rolling of curves thrust’ ‘kinetic the irresistible this and been a constant, has beautiful roads to create endeavouring us that designed for the applies as and avenues well: boulevards the Netherlands for day and age are in to sharp contrast city Our and parkways for the countryside.

FLOWSCAPES–DESIGNING INFRASTRUCTURE AS LANDSCAPE 114 THE DIABOLIC HIGHWAY 115 ------in Paris provides a perfect example of the in Paris provides a perfect example of the that courses like a leitmotif through the various the like a leitmotif through courses that ideals were, however, consigned to their grave by consigned to their grave ideals were, however, . beau , has proven to be the connecting thread in the aesthet beau ideal beau Autobahn Boulevard Périphérique Autobahn The description of the three cases employs the terms tectonics and or cases employs The description of the three Huizinga’s ‘spatio-scenic approach’, the Dutch successor to the park The autonomous road is as old as the road to Rome and in a certain sense The parkway has its origins in nineteenth-century designs by Frederick The parkway has its origins in nineteenth-century It soon became obvious that this periodisation helped to organise ques helped to organise periodisation this obvious that It soon became nament. The tectonics is the ‘body’ of the road, the route, the material form route, the road, the of the nament. The tectonics is the ‘body’ to the and which its function as a carriageway. The tectonics is the surface diabolic motorway, while in terms of Dutch motorway design, the A10 West – design, the in terms of Dutch motorway while diabolic motorway, – provides a striking western quadrant of Amsterdam’s orbital motorway the example. their urban counterpart, the motorway in the major the city: diabolic mo their urban The torway. The parkway has found its rural counterpart in the The autonomous parkway motorway, has found its rural of which the A6 between Lelystad and Almere provides a fine example. The and sublime aesthetic way way and the ics of design, running Dutch motorway from its origins in to the 1920 pres parkway. is exemplary for the A1 near Naarden design for the The ent day. lands. The autonomous road is characterised by long, straight sections and long, by autonomous road is characterised lands. The side. of trees planted on either monumental avenues which underwent a massive expansion during the Napoleonic era and pro the underwent a massive expansion during which Nether in the of national trunk roads system foundations for the vided the it is also described in the four books by Andrea it Palladio is Until far (1508-1580). also described in the four road network, it was the basis of the European into the nineteenth century provided it with a theoretical framework and couched it in cultural terms. cultural it in framework and couched a theoretical provided it with German de served as an example for the in turn, The American parkways, signers of the for the idea of connecting the city with national parks by means of recrea Moses (1888-1981) elaborated Robert twentieth century the tional routes. In the idea for motor traffic in New York, while Sigfried (1888-1968) Giedion Law Olmsted (1822-1903) Law Olmsted (1822-1903) and Calvert who (1824-1895), Vaux coined the term periods. We therefore made a distinction between three types of motorway, of motorway, a distinction between three types made periods. We therefore each of which is clarified by an example: the parkway, the autonomous mo and the diabolic motorway. torway this study. It is impossible to divide the aesthetics of motorway design into of motorway aesthetics to divide the It is impossible study. this of types, each a limited number of road characterised by periods: it is rather represents a which conception of the motorway. of the conception subject of the not dovetail with level, but it does the planological tions on ogy. ogy. The 1960s was the period of expansion in mobility and the 1970s was the the in prevailed Ecology to safety. attention and of democratisation period 1980s and the 1990s were typified by congestion and acultural shift in the ------HISTORY

It was the landscape architect J.T.P. Bijhouwer (1898-1974) who, even be even who, (1898-1974) Bijhouwer J.T.P. architect landscape the was It Initially the effect was minimal andthat must also have been why Bond The engineer G.A. Overdijkink had worked as a forester for Staatsbosbe 4. At the first Nederlandse Wegencongres (Dutch Road Congress) in 1920 a road that organically meanders, elegant and joyous, through the landscape. joyous, through elegant and organically meanders, a road that wherever possible. Road and planting had to be to tailored the surroundings Overdijkink’s ideas clearly resonate in this. Bijhouwer produced a schema of appropriate landscape types and plants, complete with varietals, which was aesthetics a permanent place in motorway design. aesthetics a permanent place in motorway fore the war, broke a lance for the parkway in his contribution to the Commis sie Wegbeplanting (Committee for Roadside Planting), which was established organisation development Heidemaatschappij, a nature Nederlandse by the a drawing of The cover of the ‘Wegbeplanting’ (Andela, 2011). report features with the Nederlandse Wegencongres organisers and the ANWB (Royal Dutch Club), with Overdijkink serving editors. The intention, as one of the Touring after the publicationsome 14 years of Wegerif’s report, was to propagate in publication The brochure’s ‘the road question’. terest for what was termed reveals how difficult it proved to attain the unity sought by Lely and to give Heemschut, a heritage conservation organisation, established a permanent the name ‘De weg committee under in het landschap’ – The road in the land scape the proper – landscap in 1933. The committee was tasked with ensuring In 1935 this committee ing and better care of roads and their surroundings. ‘De weg in in het landschap’, association published brochure, an eponymous heer since 1929 and was involved in the introduction of plants along national of plants introduction in the was involved since 1929 and heer for 1915, Cornelis Lely (1854-1929), as minister responsible In roads. trunk public and transport works, approached Staatsbosbeheer to serve as a perma unity greater intention of fostering advisor to Rijkswaterstaat, with the nent projects into the landscape. in views about the integration of infrastructural met beloop, weg’ (The beauty, in van en aan den beplanting en kunstwerken engineering of planting and to the course, in relation particular the scenery, between road elaboration he drew a distinction his In the road). around and that is as everything placed on, be understood which should and furnishings, of the road proper. carriageway that is not a component in or near a road or it was the architect A.H. Wegerif to (1888-1963) who drew attention aspects a re in His advice was recorded aesthetic values of roadways. to the related in verband bijzonder ’t natuurschoon, in het schoonheid, port entitled ‘De ornament ornament can be appended, while the ornament is the make-up or costume road scenic. makes the that

FLOWSCAPES–DESIGNING INFRASTRUCTURE AS LANDSCAPE 116 THE DIABOLIC HIGHWAY 117 - - - - - (Along our roads) in a (Along our Langs onzewegen Langs states that the roadway must possess a beauty in must states that the roadway Merkblatt in Germany. For example, a 1934 article in the Reichsauto in Germany. Right and wrong. From: ‘de Weg in het Landschap’, in: Wegen, 1936 (source: Archive ANWB) Right and wrong. From: ‘de Weg in het Landschap’, Autobahn Overdijkink advocated the regionalist approach. The planting must cor In 1941, two years after the release of the ‘Wegbeplanting’ (Roadside ‘Wegbeplanting’ release of the after the two years In 1941, Figure 1 for the for periodical bahn’s include landscape and that the planting should keeping with the surrounding respond with the character of the landscape that the road travels through. The through. respond with the character of the landscape that the road travels character of the region must be expressed in the road design. This adaptability up drawn were that directives the from differ substantively not does paradigm aesthetic principles it mentions continue to serve as a guideline for road de continue to serve as a guideline principles it mentions aesthetic are the planting, the positioning within sign. Decisive aspects in his discourse 1). (figure elevation, layout and character landscape, direction, width, the planting) report, Overdijkink published The agency. heritage cultural Heemschut Bond the by published books of series Nijmegen, Nijmegen, and for Rijksweg border and the German Utrecht between (1941) 12 is 2011: 72-73). This (Andela, remarkable because such advice was the pre serve of Staatsbosbeheer. added to the ‘Wegbeplanting’ ‘Wegbeplanting’ a as to the an appendix. report as was intended added It advice put the he into prac thereafter practical shortly and design manual, tice for Rijksweg his planting proposals with and Arnhem (1940) between 52 - - - - - – , 1934). Nurautostrassen Andeutungen über Merkblatt Schwingungen der Linien in . With the introduction of the German introduction of the . With the for the planting These of trees and shrubs. Autobahn Pücklerstreifen (Hints on Landscape Gardening). In a discussion of how a discussion In (Hints on Landscape Gardening). , were called it seemed it would be possible to transform Germany into a huge Germany be possible to transform it would it seemed – in 1935. The renouncement of straight roads as a functional and as a functional of straight roads – in 1935. The renouncement THE PARKWAY

Wald Bijhouwer published an article with the title ‘Autosnelweg of Parkway?’ 5. Seifert also referred to Hermann Fürst von Pückler-Muskau’s 1834 man Fürst von Pückler-Muskau’s to Hermann Seifert also referred Alwin Seifert had already adopted a stance against the rectilinear nature the rectilinear adopted a stance against nature already Alwin Seifert had After the war Overdijkink gained the support of the engineers H.P. Bakker, Bakker, H.P. engineers the of support the gained Overdijkink war the After the Organisation Todt in the 1930s (Seidler, 1986), which partly explains why Todt the Organisation Germany were kept quiet. these contacts with – organic alignment advocating a more of roads, führung economic principle was a significant shift. With regard to proach’ (ruimtelijk beeldende benadering). Overdijkink, Bakker and Huizinga Huizinga and Bakker Overdijkink, benadering). beeldende (ruimtelijk proach’ every two to Germany a formed excursion who went on an close triumvirate years. The first time was in 1952, at the invitation ofLorenz and Seifert, who The civil Lorenz engineer Hans years. alternate in the Netherlands visited the worked for expert and the landscape (1905-1996) (1890-1972) Alwin Seifert only only those species that would also grow and flourish somewhere naturally in ( make-up phytosociological their with accordance Huizinga. K.E. and Nap latter in particular The A.E.J. of a champion became ‘spatio-scenic to as the regionalistap the approach, referred which he later (Motorway or Parkway?) in 1949: ‘In the regimented manmade landscapes of the regimented manmade (Motorway or Parkway?) in 1949: ‘In the of the Veluwe and East-Utrecht, the West as well as in the picturesqueness bores through impliable that speedway remains an alien, tough and element national park, the illusion of the by moving reinforced through ever onward German forest. space. years a In the pre-war strip of land at least 40 metres wide was set aside on either side of the verges, generous roadside were used to create the illusion of the Ger which man Autobahn ual for the landscaping 1834), the of parks (Pückler-Muskau, ual for Landschaftsgärtnerei road divides the space that the straight to lay paths he mentions and places an ev unfurls between two spaces, the observer on that road while the curve through er-changing perspective, giving the observer the feeling of travelling car-only streets that were composed of straight sections of road, in that were composed of straight sections streets 1936 he car-only steppe, are in the well be at home but they may roads ‘These commented: in [...] Curves soul. alien to the German landscape and foreign to the German of rivers, would be more proper to the German similar to the course the roads, landscape.’

FLOWSCAPES–DESIGNING INFRASTRUCTURE AS LANDSCAPE 118 THE DIABOLIC HIGHWAY 119 ------Space, Time Space, Time 3 . In order to save the idea of . In order to save , ‘with its rigid lines of houses and , ‘with its rigid lines of houses could be described as sublime. (The rue corridor rue corridor probably served as a source of inspiration. served as a source probably Space, Time and Architecture Space, Time For Giedion, the parkway as a component of the city of who envisaged An exhilarating effect is ascribed to the parkway. The road Gideon de ‘Hausmann’s endless streets belonged not only in their architectural architectural in their not only belonged streets endless ‘Hausmann’s In the development of the American parkway from the 1920s on, Giedion development from of the American parkway the In through the use of overpasses with their cloverleaves of intersecting roads.’ through the use of overpasses with their cloverleaves to the laying of railways or straight roads, the contrast In (Giedion, 728). 1954: between green hills, it follows the Inserted parkway is much more humane. tion or interference. secure To this steady flow, no direct crossing is permit of direct access; right the of abutting property have owners ted, nor do the at intersections the conflicting or converging lines are disposed separately damental law of the parkway – that there is to be unobstructed freedom of freedom is to be unobstructed law of the parkway – that there damental interrup without points at all evenly maintained traffic of flow a movement, the future, its essence is to be found in the separation of motor traffic from implicitthat is pedestrians, which reclaims the freedom in the unobstruct ed circulation ‘Out of this separation functions: has come the fun for both effect of the angel is exhilarating, a theme also explored by Rilke and Benja min.) existence quietude and the companionship of growing things’. existence quietude and the companionship scribes in his profile and accommodating it in large complexes setin open, his for demands ‘man was that According to Giedion, reason the roundings. sur natural out of our period – space-time.’ Nature seems to stream in spontaneously seems to stream period – space-time.’ Nature out of our through the street frontage’s broken-open perspective. Traffic and housing street the by liberating house from each other the be separated from should Renaissance: perspective,’ Giedion continues. ‘Today we must deal with the we must perspective,’ ‘Today Renaissance: Giedion continues. city in a new aspect, dictated originally by the appearance of the motorcar and belonging and to an artistic vision born based on technical considerations, its intermingling of traffic, pedestrians, and houses’ (Giedion, 1954). of traffic, pedestrians, and houses’ its intermingling but also in their very conception to the artistic vision born of the features the city from the metropolis threatened with demise, Giedion argued that the demise, Giedion argued that with metropolis threatened the city from the first priority was to abolish the his parkway with his parkway with the notion of space-time (i.e. dynamic observation, as de cubism), and against the central which he situated over veloped in futurism perspective Renaissance and the of the and Architecture and Architecture element born of the vision of the new era. Giedion tied in saw a urban new acter (Bijhouwer, 1949).’ This is once again a championing of the parkway in Moses for and the work of Robert Seifert resonate words of Alwin which the New York is cited as a shining example, and for which Giedion’s the land like a chute for traffic. The predominance of technical insight, the influence of the technical norm, is so strong thatit would barely be possible to find roads that are more dignified ormore fitting to the landscape’s char

- - - Bodenständigkeit Model research of alignment ca. 1970, by Ir. K.E. Huizinga Model research of alignment ca. 1970, by Ir. K.E. Figure 2 An attractive road is a fine road when the embellishment, the scenic Huizinga’s Huizinga’s spatio-scenic approach is imbued with the scenic effectand as the expressionist theme of productive nature. The underlying idea is that The underlying of productive as the expressionist theme nature. which are acted nature, and kinship between technology is a structural there on by a similar is which force. Humankind the vector merely the ob through ject assumes a form that is organic and dictated by nature. entourage, entourage, has a calming effect. His maxim: ‘A road must fascinate, with out causing The beautiful with the landscape and road harmonises tiredness.’ there, merges with it. It is looks natural and a seems ‘self-evident’ road that This calls to mind the as if it hands. was not made by human – that was propagated or autochtony by Alwin Seifert, as well – groundedness the motorist’s experience rather than the implications for society and urban experience the motorist’s than the implications rather for society and urban 2). development (figure contours contours of the landscape. Between the carriageways runs a central reserva of the total convergence is the the ideal Here with trees. is planted that tion The scale that is the road becomes part of nature. road with its surroundings: specific to theparkway is so at variance with the existing city that its whole to be reconsidered. would have structure

FLOWSCAPES–DESIGNING INFRASTRUCTURE AS LANDSCAPE 120 THE DIABOLIC HIGHWAY 121 - - Parkway, RW 4, Zoeterwoude 1958 (source: Archive ANWB) Parkway, RW 4, Zoeterwoude 1958 (source: Archive in German Romanticism. The landscape must continue in continue must The landscape Romanticism. in German Figure 3 Wanderer The A50 near Renkum, the A58 between Bergen Op Zoom and Vlissin In the spatio-scenic approach the planting of avenues of trees is of trees is forsworn spatio-scenic In the approach the planting of avenues J. Nieuwenhuizen (of Rijkswaterstaat) stated that they were able to exercise they that Nieuwenhuizen (of Rijkswaterstaat) stated J. They 4). (figure ornamentation and tectonics A1’s the over influence of plenty the opportunity to make decisions about the width of the verges, the had gen and the A1 near Naarden are among the most successful examples are among the most successful of the the A1 near Naarden gen and Dutch parkway. The landscape architects A. Elffers (of Staatsbosbeheer) and stacles, but space for the unfettered gaze. No harsh lines, but vague contours contours lines, but vague harsh gaze. No unfettered the space for stacles, but 3). to integrate into the landscape (figure that cause the road that of the that of the the exhilarating feeling of being in the roadscape must have and the motorist of the the midst It is landscape. ob roam. No the eye should important that and replaced by elements within the depths of the landscape replaced and within by elements landscape of the the depths its that match aim The is to produce an experience freedom, similar of to scenic structure. - - - - - Icon Parkway: RW 1 Naarden (illustration: J. Beljaars) Figure 4 The earliest designs for the A1 were produced in the late 1930s, The earliest designs for the A1 were but the the road continues parallel to this waterway towards Amsterdam. sweeping arc around Naarden. What is about sweeping What unusual the tectonics Naarden. here is arc around skirts the Gooimeer lake. The de and narrowly that the roadbed descends to inside bend, in order gradual incline in the western signers created a very draw the surface level and the fortress town of Naarden into the field of vi sion (figure 5). The road then rises again and where it passes the marina it again along runs a dike embankment. After crossing Trekvaart, the Naarder decision about the route was not reached until the 1960s. The northern route, decision The northern was not reached until the 1960s. about the route and the Gooimeer running between Naarden lake and wetlands, was preferred Bus northern the after north, to south from Travelling advice. Huizinga’s on the left, gently towards towards the Oostdi sum exit motorway curves the jk. Here the road is raised on a dike. After the Oostdijk the road describes a alignment and the integration and alignment into acquired They landscape. the that land penetrated deep into the surrounding countryside in order to offer the mo experience. desired aesthetic torist the

FLOWSCAPES–DESIGNING INFRASTRUCTURE AS LANDSCAPE 122 THE DIABOLIC HIGHWAY 123 - e connects the motorist with the surroundings. Panoramic view Naarden, 2007 (photo: Piet Rook/Robert Nagelkerke) Panoramic view Naarden, 2007 (photo: Piet Rook/Robert Figure 5 THE AUTONOMOUS MOTORWAY THE AUTONOMOUS

6. The autonomous motorway is a of type that makes the road independent The motorist is repeatedly involved with the surrounding landscape in a surrounding involved with the The motorist is repeatedly The design The design is a renaissance of the idyllic concepts from the 1930s, in line The ornamental layout is intended to surprise the motorist. Trees were the motorist. Trees layout is intended to surprise The ornamental paysage parlant the surrounding landscape. It is a monumental approach that involves striv landscape. It is a monumental the surrounding scenography that alternately turns the gaze inward and outward. The parkway gaze outward. the inward and turns alternately that scenography as a a centripetal force. It resembles a gravitational field with the fortified town of town fortified the with field gravitational a resembles It force. centripetal a Naarden at its magnetic core. with G.A. Overdijkink’s regionalist approach. The aesthetic surprises tumble with G.A. Overdijkink’s regionalist approach. The aesthetic surprises into the field of vision of the unsuspecting motorist. It is like racingalong in movement that is counterbalanced by in a centrifugal a great sweeping curve, panorama opens up across the Gooimeer lake and the gently rolling, elegant the gently lake and panorama opensup across the Gooimeer itself within that panorama. of the road that unfurls curve set square on either side of the road, thus forming a coulisse. The motorist forming thus set square on either side of the road, it a resplendent on breaking and approaches a semi-closed frontage, through planted to the south of the Oostdijk to connect the rest area to the road in an road area to the rest Oostdijk to connect the of the south planted to the there are rows of trees On the Oostdijk itself aesthetically pleasing manner. - - - He also had 4 Icon Autonomous Motorway: RW 6 Lelystad (illustration: J. Beljaars) Icon Autonomous Motorway: Figure 6 However, the designers encountered Huizinga However, Over way. On the designers encountered along the Notable examples include the A2 near Boxtel, which in part follows the newly it The A6 is an interesting case because was conceived to traverse too fascistic, overly monumental and too static because of its long straight and too fascistic, monumental overly about a lack of safe plan with arguments He managed to thwart the sections. effect’. ‘tunnel and effect’ ‘wall the as such aspects criticising ty, The a negative surroundings. opinion supposedly limited view of the of the to treat the Rijksweg 6 as an autonomous body, as an urban umbilical cord, a an urban body, as Rijkswegto treat the 6 as an autonomous road that would be without precedent. dijkink’s retirement from Staatsbosbeheer, Huizinga to Ri had transferred jkswaterstaat with the intention of assuming overall control of the aesthetic Huizinga discussions the design as informal dismissed In of roads. treatment would be able to appreciate This idea the glory. marks the whole tree in its full socialist ideal of overcoming of the antithesis the time-honoured of return route between the ‘new land’ the and city, countryside in this case by turning into a metaphorical monument conurbation the Randstad and of Flevoland priority was the designers For the countryside. connection of city and the for created land and sparked heated debate. Its design created land and sparked heated debate. was by N.M. de Jonge and was supported by Elffers. The idea was to treat the A6 between Lelystad and This conurbation. the Randstad part of the A1 as a gateway northern to the corridor with six rows of oak could be achieved by creating an avenue-like metres the edge of the road, four from metres The trees would be set 14 trees. that was deemed safe, so that the motorist the 10 metres away than further historical route of the Napoleonic highway, and the A6 near Lelystad. historical route of the Napoleonic highway, ing after a strong visual form, which can be explained from the road itself itself road the ing explained can be which form, visual strong after a from 6). (figure landscape the surrounding than from rather

FLOWSCAPES–DESIGNING INFRASTRUCTURE AS LANDSCAPE 124 THE DIABOLIC HIGHWAY 125 - - - - 5 Autonomous Motorway, 2007 (photo: Piet Rook/Robert Nagelkerke) Autonomous Motorway, 2007 (photo: Piet Rook/Robert Figure 7 “An avenue-like “An avenue-like planting along Rijksweg 6 kept as regimented as possible. While planners debated and While debated and fought out planners of the the general introduction Huizinga’s safety-based arguments meant he was able to settle the dis the able to settle he was meant arguments Huizinga’s safety-based which no answer was found: the birth of the diabolic motorway. ‘spatio-scenic approach’, in the field totally different questions arose to tad was executed as an autonomous design (figure 7). as an autonomous design (figure tad was executed pute of motorway near Lelys his advantage, to just one stretch in the end so initial appreciation for the monumental form of the roadside planting will presently presently will planting appreciation roadside initial for the monumental form of the until the passing it but to wait There is nothing else for of the into boredom. […] turn end by one reaching one’s destination.” trees is brought to an their speed, be able to observe practically nothing but trees and more trees – besides besides trees – more trees and nothing but observe practically to be able their speed, the road, the wide verges and a little bit of sky. […] The field of vision thus restricted by trees will have so little to offer visually that the attention quickly wanes and any Where possible consisting of seven rows of trees set 8 x 8 metres apart and approxi and metres apart seven consisting of Where possible x 8 of trees set 8 rows users, road especially means that the side of the carriageway 20 metres from mately on depending minutes, twenty to fifteen for will day, per thousands many drivers, the minimal variation would cause a slackening of the motorist’s concentration concentration the motorist’s of a slackening cause would variation minimal a stroboscop restless and driving past have would high speed at of trees rows effect. ic ------Learning Algemeen Uit Izenour, Izenour, Scott Brown & Ven and Robert Venturi’s slightly later slightly Robert Venturi’s and (Appleyard, Lynch & Myer, 1964; (AUP, or General Extension Plan). The city (AUP, or General Extension Plan). authorities preferred ). The View from the Road , road, with far-reaching implicationsnational trunk a its posi for THE DIABOLIC MOTORWAY THE DIABOLIC Let us cast our minds back to Sigfried Giedion. The parkway – his parkway back to Sigfried Giedion. The minds cast our Let us During During studies into fixed cross-channel connections for Amsterdam’s The design of the motorway in densely developed urban areas is, as we developed urban in densely The design of the motorway It was designed by the engineers A.H.C. Kandelaar (of Rijkswaterstaat) (of Rijkswaterstaat) the engineers A.H.C. Kandelaar It was designed by Construction of the West Axis, Construction of the which part constituted of an orbital road 7. roughly served in system the motorway the 1960s Until the Netherlands ic paradigms of integration with the landscape, the A10 West can only be de West can only ic landscape, the A10 paradigms of integration with the Here a successful insertion literally meant that it fitted. scribed as a failure. disposition gives the motorist the invig – as the backbone of a new urban subject only to the logic of its own internal laws, such as those of the ‘spa tio-scenic approach’. both Nakken (who were According and Jan to Rob Nas the insertion of the not understand by Staatsbosbeheer) we should employed There was simply no space West Axis as an exercise in landscape architecture. with which to approach the was a lack of aesthetic resources there it and for task. Considered from the perspective of engineering theory and the aesthet Schellingwoude, set on the city’s periphery as envisaged in the city’s periphery Schellingwoude, set on the breidings Plan position, the more easterly using the spatial reservation for Ceintuurpark weg. This was the first time that a concession was madepanoramic landscape, where it is laid down in Holland’s which can be neatly to the motorway, received more attention from the 1960s due to publications the 1960s received from more attention such as Kevin Lynch’s from Las Vegas 1972 turi, Sea Canal, North a link near the Hembrug and had preferred Rijkswaterstaat of Dutch motorway design it is an exemplary route, because for the first time the concept road was applied of the ring and be to the routing of a motorway areas. existing urban cause in part it cut straight through shall see, of a different order and significance to urban the thoroughfare that for motor traffic around Amsterdam,was begun in the early 1960s. However, in the minister responsible 1968 decided that the ring road would become a Rijksweg fabric. tion within the urban and W.A.G. Blom van Assendelft (of Amsterdam City Council). In the history tive handling of traffic withinthe municipal boundaries. This system could not cope with the explosive increase in road traffic in the earlythat were interrupted as they motorway sections of the 1960s these during 1960s, and were interconnected. approached the cities two purposes: providing providing a connection between major citiestwo purposes: and opening up boundaries of a the municipal at an end route came to The the hinterland. major town or city. The local council was deemed responsible for an effec

FLOWSCAPES–DESIGNING INFRASTRUCTURE AS LANDSCAPE 126 THE DIABOLIC HIGHWAY 127 - Icon Diabolic Motorway: RW 10 West, Amsterdam (illustration: J. Beljaars) Icon Diabolic Motorway: RW 10 West, Amsterdam Figure 8 With his design for Ceintuurparkweg, Cornelis van Eesteren wanted to With his design for Ceintuurparkweg, tuurparkweg alternately narrow and wide (figure 9). (figure alternately narrow and wide tuurparkweg reconcile the modern motorway, Giedion’s parkway, with the city. The road motorway, Giedion’s parkway, with the modern reconcile the between the ring-line railway and the existing runs city like a thin spindle. Van Eesteren designed various profiles with the intention of making Cein filtering in and out (figure 8). in and out (figure filtering the hallmarks of those separate streams of traffic. Onthe A10 West there is no calm is and everything It is coincidental. a that is motorway challenged by a severe shortage of space, overly confined slip roads and plenty of traffic orating feeling of calm and freedom. His parkway heralds the demise of the demise the heralds His parkway freedom. and of calm feeling orating concentric perspective Renaissance city. The is by space-time supplanted in West displays are objects The A10 by the parkway. interconnected which there Scetch Cornelis van Eesteren Amsterdam West, 1929 (source: Gemeente Archief Amsterdam) Scetch Cornelis van Eesteren Amsterdam West, Through to Heemstedestraat he planned a relatively enclosed profile, Figure 9 profile is open, with vistas to urban chambers in theplaced high-rise rhythmically in there are four the east. In Rembrandtpark west and the marina blocks and here the profile becomes park-like in character. describes an arc as it enters into the residential district of Ceintuurparkweg Further north with buildings ranged along the building line, while to the north of this the with buildings ranged along the building line, north while to the

FLOWSCAPES–DESIGNING INFRASTRUCTURE AS LANDSCAPE 128 THE DIABOLIC HIGHWAY 129 - - - - - Bos en Lommerplein, 1935 & 1961 (source: Stadsarchief Amsterdam) Figure 10 The Rijksweg’s indifference to the surroundings turns the Bos en Lom The projection of the West Axis of Rijksweg 10 onto the route of Cein route Axis of Rijksweg The projectiononto the West 10 of the ed to the turning curves or disappeared altogether (figures 10 and 11). altogether (figures or disappeared curves ed to the turning surroundings, divorces the road from the urban context. road from the urban divorces the surroundings, merplein into a spatial plaza chaos. Sections of this symmetrical adapt were ing of motorway and local roads that run perpendicular to it. The motorway’s perpendicular run that local roads and ing of motorway level of the no point grade, which at undulating the surface converges with the designers were insufficiently aware that here the motorway was entering slow-traffic traversing onward, surges road The world. different totally a into is It an interlac thoroughfares. routes and passing urban beneath the radial 10 orbital motorway. 10 orbital if as composition, urban AUP’s the to modification no prompted tuurparkweg in Bos en Lommer. His design was a deliberate attempt to choreograph the cityscape perceived it as this design met motion. However, in dynamically is Rijksweg into the transformation the road’s during demise with its ruthless Bos en Lommer. From the bridge across the Erasmusgracht canal as far as the the as far as canal Erasmusgracht the across bridge the From Lommer. en Bos intersection, perspective road’s the is once again in between hemmed edi fices.Van Eesteren’s Ceintuurparkweg ended at this monumental junction - - - “functional, pleasing aesthetically , an object that is indeed interwoven with the city of in terms Bos en Lommerplein North direction, ca 1969 (source: Stadsarchief Amsterdam) Bos en Lommerplein North direction, ca 1969 (source: Figure 11 The road occupies its own space, separate from the surroundings. As seen The road occupies its own space, separate from the surroundings. This involved the projection of a foreign element that, because its id of ity by superposition, in their mutual negation and are subsumed and rejection 12). (figure has ended up being laid across the grid of the up being the laid across ended has hygienic city” and bombshell a placed it speaking aesthetically but engineering, traffic and road the cityscape. the idea of marshalling They are two relatively autono under been brought into proxim each other’s two that have mous systems, ‘worlds’ from the city, the road is concealed behind buildings and amid greenery. from the city, the road is concealed iosyncratic patterns, could not be inserted into this composition an urban as An object urbanity. orderly and of a controlled element, at least not in terms

FLOWSCAPES–DESIGNING INFRASTRUCTURE AS LANDSCAPE 130 THE DIABOLIC HIGHWAY 131 - - - - (photo: Piet Rook/Robert Nagelkerke) Bos en Lommerplein superposition of two ‘worlds’, 2007 Bos en Lommerplein superposition of two ‘worlds’, Figure 12 The aesthetics of the future recognises just one important parameter: the The aesthetics of the future It is typical of Giedion, of the arguments Seifert and Huizinga that they It is the obtrusive, pre-existing urban conditions that determine the conditions that determine the It is the obtrusive, pre-existing urban elimination of anything that impedes. In the post-war years Giedion’s mod ern aesthetics of space-time dissolved into panoramic vastness. Brasilia, the attests to this. city that has managed to absorb the speed harmoniously, only experience that speaks directly to the heart, without the intervention of the heart, without the experience to the that speaks directly conscious mind. tem as a whole. For it them was about the eradication of barriers by means experience motorist’s of the parkway, about the of speeding and along – an Jonge and Elffers. strove after the continuity of the network and the cohesion of road sys the there is coincidental. It is the hybrid ur such states of mind that distinguish areas, the parkway beyond of Gie from the motorway in ban motorway rural dion, Bijhouwer and Huizinga, and beyond the autonomous highway of De road’s course rather than its immanent logic. everything There is no calm and its immanent than rather course road’s ------Boule ? The metropolitan experience that the road offers is its very IN CONCLUSION

By comparison with the tectonics, the ornament can behave freely. Who Tectonics and ornamentation can feed upon this disjunctive synthesis, upon this can feed ornamentation Tectonics and it is the French architect Paul Andreu who has demonstrated In Europe Something similar occurs with the diabolic motorway. City and roadway diabolic City and withthe motorway. Something similar occurs 8. According to the French philosopher Alain Badiou, the twentieth centu In urban areas it is a matter of maintaining of maintaining There of the tectonics. areas it is a matter control urban In ing, for example at Terminal 2, where the motorway crosses the TGV station. of the would want to rein in the bad taste and the supposed shambles Périphériquevard meaning that things can stand face to face without any similarity, face to face meaning that things can stand provided that this does not hamper movement or the experience of racing along. solutions. design exciting offer can worlds distinct of juxtapositions stark that In his design de Gaulle Airport for Roissy-Charles merges he road and build ty is not the product of the establishment of a harmonious ensemble, but is ensemble, of a harmonious ty is not the product of the establishment experience. of a hellish shaped by a memory The friction of coincidence and the wonder of inadvertent effects are hallmarks of the disjunctive synthesis. is something in which the devil to resolve into unity refuses that A dichotomy had a hand. must have conjoining objects from different worlds, without striving after an overar or idea. Coincidence ching detach the harmony and semantic interferences component parts from their usual identity. the embodiments of two The re are linked but remain autonomous, worlds. lationship between city and motorway is a Its identi disjunctive synthesis. ry has been dominated by paradoxicalhas been dominated ry connections that he calls ‘disjunctive syntheses’ (Badiou, 2006). The surrealists created disjunctive syntheses by city, but Or take space an independent the freeways of Los nevertheless. An The separate world. a form nevertheless they city, on the geles: superimposed are inadequate and resources landscaping usual the lack of space that means arise there. unforeseen effects one finds a paradoxical relationship between the road and the environs, that it as if it were disregard can we wholly nor as harmonious, we cannot describe non-existent. Consider, for example, the Kleinpolderplein near Rotterdam or the Utrechtse Baan in The Hague, hemmed in by the obtrusive mass of the It is the outcome of a of a embodiment the model, sought-after pre-existing idea. Its soporific scalar excess and unfolding of functionshas been careful ly preserved by designating the city as a protected monument and fixing its population ‘Shadow cities’ at 500 000. people where two million live an in around this utopia. developed have infrastructure improvised

FLOWSCAPES–DESIGNING INFRASTRUCTURE AS LANDSCAPE 132 THE DIABOLIC HIGHWAY 133 - . Rotter . 1: 7 . Rotterdam, (2005) / Eng. (2005) Nijenhuis, W. & W. & Nijenhuis, . Cambridge MA, Le Siècle . Leipzig: J.B. Hirschfeld . Leipzig: Rotterdam, Uitgeverij 010. Rotterdam, Uitgeverij 010. . l’Europe à grande vitesse l’Europe à . Rotterdam, Uitgeverij 010 , Cambridge MA, MIT Press Learning from Las Vegas . Berlin: Hebrig Tijdschrift voor Volkhuisvesting en Stedebouw ] . 3rd enlarged ed., Cambridge MA, Harvard University Press, Harvard University MA, Cambridge ed., enlarged 3rd . Andeutungen über Landschaftsgärtnerei De Diabolische Snelweg – over de traditie van de mooie weg in mooie weg de over de traditie van De Diabolische Snelweg – The View from the Road . London, The Architectural Press Kampen, Uitgeverij Ten Have [French original: Ten Have Uitgeverij Kampen, . De Diabolische de traditie van de mooie weg in het Nederlandse Snelweg – over (2007)] Fritz Todt – Baumeister des Dritten Reiches Space, Time and Architecture and Space, Time De twintigste eeuw J.T.P. Bijhouwer, Grensverleggend Landschapsarchitect Hints on Landscape Gardening The Landscape of Roads The Century 8 (Beratung der Grünstreifen), 10 November 1934. 8 (Beratung der Grünstreifen), 10 November 1934. motorway and landscape. The book primarily refers to parkways in the USA and Germany. The book primarily refers to parkways in the USA motorway and landscape. 127. (2011): from G. Andela is taken The quote purposes. for teaching book this used often Bijhouwer K.E. Huizinga in 1998 at De Bilt. Interview with the engineer VIA. by Huizinga in the archives of Stichting From an internal memorandum REFERENCES Crowe’s introduction notes that England lags behind when it comes to the design task of integrating when it comes to the design task of integrating lags behind that England Crowe’s introduction notes ENDNOTES myself. and Nijenhuis Wim by study conducted the of This essay is an adaptation W. van, (2007) Winden, naar de schitterende snelweg in de grote stad landschap en het verlangen het Nederlandse landschap en het verlangen naar de schitterende snelweg in de grote stad Uitgeverij 010. [Eng. trans. as pp 725-6 MIT Press dam, NAi Uitgevers, pp. 116-137 trans. as Seidler, F.W. (1986) Pückler-Muskau, Hermann Fürst von (1834) Hermann Fürst von (1834) Pückler-Muskau, Nijenhuis, W. & W. Van Winden (1996) ‘Een Postmoderne Hemelvaart’, in: Postmoderne ‘Een (1996) Winden Van W. & W. Nijenhuis, (2007) W. Winden, van W. & W. Nijenhuis, Izenour, S. & D. Scott Brown & R. Venturi (1972/revised 1977) S. & D. Scott Brown & R. Venturi (1972/revised Izenour, Merkblatt Crowe, S. (1960) (1954) S. Giedion, Appleyard, D., K. Lynch & J.R. Myer (1964) (2006) A. Badiou, Bijhouwer, J.T.P. (1949) Autosnelweg of Parkway. Andela, G. (2011) 3 4 5 2 1 is its guiding principle. is its guiding identity. Using Using identity. technique the of disjunctive the ornamentation synthesis, a into magnificent in motorway big the city. be could even further radicalised and the territory diabolic motorway lies in urban of the future The motorway FLOWSCAPES–DESIGNING INFRASTRUCTURE AS LANDSCAPE 134