OostvaardersWold A Proposal to Raise Funds for Documenting Dutch

Polder-to-Nature Transformation in Southern Flevoland

Photographic Project Phase 1 2010 - 2012 Year 1 June 14 - 29, 2010

The future center of the OostvaardersWold Corridor 2008

Societal transformation demands new opportunities for urbanization, recreation, and
ecological diversity. As the newest land use combination in a fascinating history of land
transformation, the OostvaardersWold Corridor and Almere’s “Scale Jump” will create a
powerful regional landscape in Southern Flevoland.

Documenting this land use transformation, the OostvaardersWold Photographic Project will
provide a wealth of information for research, design and education in the Netherlands and
internationally. This is a proposal to raise funds for the project.
Cynthia Lapp Emerging from the former Zuiderzee in 1968, Southern Flevoland was the fourth polder
clapp@umn.edu created by the Zuiderzee Works. Ostensibly for security from storm flooding, and spurred by
US 952.261.8143 the need for food security following WWI, the Zuiderzee Works were begun in 1920. The
NL 06 251 19450 new land was designated for farms and the towns needed to support rural life.
 The Netherlands has long been a powerhouse of design and planning, necessitated by its
delta landscape and proximity to the sea. Historically, land use in the Netherlands was
precisely ordered due to the constraints of controlling water. Current social and ecological
conditions inform a new approach, one of designing landscapes adaptable to ecological
and economic change.

The OostvaardersWold Nature Corridor will be a connecting landscape for large grazing
animals now inhabiting the Oostvaardersplassen Nature Reserve to the north and the
Horsterwold forest to the south. Part of the Netherlands and European Ecological Networks,
the corridor will eventually link these areas to the Hoge Veluwe National Park and red deer
herds in Germany.

The Wulpweg, just west of the OostvaardersWold Corridor 2008

Directly to the west of the Corridor site, Almere will expand by 20,000 houses in “Almere
Oostvaarders” as part of the Scale Jump to be completed by 2030. Responding to national
demands for urbanization and economic expansion, the Scale Jump will transform Almere
into a vital constituent of the Randstad. As large-scale farming is buffeted by global markets,
desire to adapt farming to regional economies emerges. Almere Oostvaarders will create
viable urban agriculture to feed a sizeable percentage of Almere’s expanding population.

These same land use transformations are happening worldwide as we respond to climate,
population and water constraints. The call to construct green corridors to allow ecological
diversity within developed landscapes is happening worldwide. Southern Flevoland is an
exemplary site demonstrating how local, regional, national and international planning come
together to address access to resources, economic growth, and ecological resilience.
The Project Above:
Aufstluitdijk 1927, Rotgans sketch 1943, Volendam 1926; Nieuwe Land Archive
This proposal outlines the three years of Phase 1. Beginning in June 2010, a “baseline year”
will be photographed before Corridor construction is scheduled to begin in 2011. Below:
Constructing eastern Flevoland, Municipality of Almere
Core sites will be rephotographed each year, in 2011 and 2012. Additional sites and topics Planting the Horsterwold, agricultural drainage, establishing the Stille Kern;
in conjunction with the construction of the Corridor will be documented. Photographs will Arnolussen + Nip, 1996

be geo-referenced and digitally archived. The archive will be available through a website for
research, education, and public use.

Funding to document this historic transformation will be sought from public, private and
corporate partners in the United States and the Netherlands. Benefits of partnership will be
negotiated to fit the requirements of the partner, including publication and use rights.

The Duikerweg, just east of the OostvaardersWold Corridor 2008

Inspiration
This project has many inspirations, including the Rephotographic movement, the Zuiderzee
Project’s many documentarians, and the range and inventiveness of Dutch landscape design.

Second View, a survey done in the 1970s in the United States, is a foundational project in
the Rephotographic field. Seeking to update the romantic view of the West, sites photo-
graphed in the mid-1800s were rephotographed. Comparing these images highlighted the
variety of landscape and land use change that had transpired.

The Nieuw Land Poldermuseum Archive in Lelystad holds a collection of documentation

done in conjunction with the Zuiderzee Works, including the Zuiderzee fishing industry and
the construction of the Nordoost and Southern Flevoland polders. These drawings, photo-
graphs
 and movies are integral to understanding the scale and methods of the Works.
Future
This three-year proposal is Phase 1 of an anticipated 10-year project. Corridor construction
is scheduled to be completed in 2014, at which time ecological transformation will continue.
As Almere’s Scale Jump proceeds, economic and recreational use of the area will change.
A continuous record of the ecological, economic and cultural changes will be invaluable.

For Phase 2, an expansion of the project is envisioned, inviting Dutch and international
photographers to participate in the project. Alongside core sites that will continue to be
rephotographed annually, these “guest” photographers will choose their own topics and
documentation style. A diversity of perspectives will enrich the project and encourage
additional levels of involvement.

First interest in Corridor Photograph Photograph

project during 3-week Second research trip for Year 1 of the Year 2 of the Begin Phase 2 of the
class in the NL taught OostvaardersWold Presented thesis work OostvaardersWold OostvaardersWold OostvaardersWold
by Dr. Julia Robinson Corridor thesis project at the Almere Stadhuis Photographic Project Photographic Project Photographic Project

2007 2008 2009 2009 2010 Year 1 Year 2 Year 3

May May P relimin ary March Sept. March 2010 Phase 1 2011 2012 Phase 2

First research trip for Presented thesis work Taught a 2-week class Create website for Photograph
OostvaardersWold at the International “The Cultural Ecology public archive of the Year 3 of the
Corridor thesis project Conference of Ecology of Water in the NL” to OostvaardersWold OostvaardersWold
and Transportation U of MN students in Photographic Project Photographic Project
the Netherlands

Biography
Fascinated by the new polder landscape, Cynthia Lapp (BFA + MLA) created a master plan
for the OostvaardersWold corridor and Almere Oost expansion for her Master of Landscape
Architecture thesis in 2009. Many contacts from her thesis research are advising her on the
organization of this Project. She is an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the University of
Minnesota and a photographer.

Lapp also created a landscape documentary project is entitled Document Superior. With
fellow photographer Carrie Kohlmeier, the two circumnavigated Lake Superior bicycling
2000 km, photographing the landscape and interviewing people about the Lake. The project
spawned various shows, lectures, and a cultural geography website done with the Geography
Department at the University of MN Duluth. A book on the project is currently in process.
Phase 1 Budget, 2010 - 2012
The following budget is projected for the three years of Phase 1 of the project. A budget will
then be proposed for Phase 2 of the project. The budget includes travel and expenses,
equipment, and studio and website costs:

Phase 1 Travel and In-country Expenses $13,300

Equipment $ 6,100
Costs $16,600
Total $36,000

Support in the amount of $8,100 has already been obtained, totalling 20% of the Phase 1 budget.
As some expenses will occur only at the start-up, the first year budget is listed separately below.

Farms along the Wulpweg, just west of the OostvaardersWold Corridor 2008
Year 1 Budget, 2010
Photographing the baseline year is scheduled for June 15-28, 2010. The projected budget for
the first year of Phase 1 includes photography and creation of the project website:

Year 1 Travel and In-country Expenses $ 4,430

Equipment $ 5,635
Costs $ 7,075
Total $17,135
Cynthia Lapp
Of the $5,850 necessary for photographing in June, $2,700, or 45% is already acquired. clapp@umn.edu
Support has come from the LandWorkPlace project of the University of Minnesota’s US 952.261.8143
Department of Landscape Architecture and private partners. NL 06 251 19450
The Volgelweg at the center of the future OostvaardersWold Corridor 2008