Dirk Hoogeveen
artist, architect,
I like to build things outside or in the city
(sculptures which relate to their surroundings)
Rotterdam NL
A series of sculptures in various dimensions in the ‘polder’ of Rotterdam, placed in a government-owned field using readily available brick materials. The location is owned by the government, and the field is intentionally left unbuilt and unused to ensure a sense of natural identity for the area. The intention is to preserve the identity of the polder landscape and its iconic views.
The field is maintained by the neighboring farmer; every couple of months, the grass is neatly cut, and all the weeds are removed. This farmer, through the act of weeding and cutting, determines the preserved view and thus the identity of that place. The farmer explained to me that if the fields were truly kept as a piece of nature, they would get out of control. Polderbricks questions the concept of land ownership through the appropriation of this field. Who is in charge of determining what our ‘natural’ landscapes and territory should look like? To me, the decisions made in the maintenance of the public space have a great impact on the identity of a place.
Polderbricks was an intervention to start a conversation with the people surrounding the field. At the same time, it is always nice to get your hands dirty and play with some bricks.