ACSA: Visitors Guide: Randstad Holland

Abstract

This publication is intended for American architects, who in the context of the Delft ACSA Conference 1992 would like to catch a glimpse of Dutch architecture. But at the same time it is a good guide for everyone who wants a one-day introduction to the urban agglomaration of the Netherlands. The Randstad is an attenuated urban area which stretch es from Utrecht to Rotterdam, incorporating Het Gooi, Amsterdam, Haarlem, Leiden, Den Haag, and Delft. In contrast to conurbations like London or Paris, the Randstad has no single centre. Instead, this 'ring city' winds its way round the meadows of its Green Heart. With its principal cities, harbours, and Schiphol airport, the Randstad is the economie centre of the Netherlands. At present the Randstad has approximately 2,5 million dwellings for a population of roughly 6 million people. As the area expands over the next 25 years, the population is expected to increase to 7 million, an increase of 17 %, while the number of dwellings are expected to increase by 40 %. The Netherlands comprises an area of roughly 160 by 240 kilometres. If you subdivide the Netherlands into six squares, each 80 kilometres square, three squares long and two squares wide, the Randstad, together with its Green Heart, occupies the middle square in the western row. Of course, dividing the country into the Randstad and the remainder of the Netherlands is not the only available manner of subdivision. It is also possible to split the Netherlands into a Northern Wing and a Southern Wing. This configuration yields a different picture: no longer one of an urban agglomeration in the middle of the country, but rather two extended urban concentrations extending across the breadth of the Netherlands and comprising both the coastal areas and the hinterland. Nonetheless, the Dutch government considers the Randstad configuration to be the more adequate and the more fruitful concept for planning decisions from the viewpoint of development on an international scale. The excursion takes you through various typically Dutch landscapes such as dunes and polders. The buildings which are visited illustrate mainly the Dutch architecture of this century.ArchitectureArchitectur